Conquering Casanova
by Amiyuu
Summary: Aomine was the epitome of the modern day Casanova. But his conquests have gotten boring and mundane, until he comes across someone who barely spares him a second glance. He can't resist a challenge, and this was a very attractive one, to boot. Soon, though, he realises that he's running downhill with no safety gear and no brakes. Will this man finally be conquered?
1. Chapter 1

**Yay! I think I'm finally ready for multi-chaptered fics again. Maybe. I hope I don't lose momentum like last time. .-. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters. Only the following story is my own. **

**Image Source: post/29034568155/kuroko-no-basket-aomine-x-kuroko-rin-rin-awaken**

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He was used to being watched.

Call it what you want, but he was well aware of how attractive he was. Standing at over 6 feet and with dark skin in a country where practically everyone else was a pale white, he stood out and above the crowd. Not to mention that he was part of a small percentage of the world that could get a girl to drop her pants with a mere smile. His looks were a gift, and he utilized it fully.

Though, the people who knew him said that as far as he was concerned, beauty was only skin deep. He had an aversion to long-term relationships, and balked at the idea of having just one steady girlfriend. His escapades between the sheets were the stuff of gossips around the bars. He didn't think much of women, honestly. They were more of a means to an end. He liked sex, and he needed a second party to accomplish that. It was just that simple for him.

Of course, many one night stands were beginning to turn out badly for him, and he was starting to find the pressure the women put on him suffocating. They called and texted every other hour, and expected him to proclaim undying love after a night together in a sleazy motel. Then there were those that thought that they owned him. Everyone knew he didn't do commitments, but they got it into their heads that they could somehow change him by being clingy and desperate. It was sickening.

Aomine had been leaning up against the old school juke box that probably didn't work any more besides the door of the bar, chatting up some girls while he decided which one to take home that night when he saw him. At first glance he had thought that a really cute high school student was sizing him up from the bar across the room, but on closer inspection he realized that it was definitely an adult.

A very attractive adult.

He sat alone at the end of the bar against the wall and was chatting with the bartender. He had striking blue hair, which a normal person would think wasn't natural, but Aomine knew people with weirder hair colours. Huge blue eyes filled up his face, and he had a strange smile that seemed to hint at a mysteriousness that taunted and beckoned you closer. He had been throwing glances in Aomine's direction occasionally throughout the night, and, Aomine noticed, even staring shamelessly at him at intervals.

Aomine caught his eye when he glanced over again, and watched, fascinated as those gorgeous eyes blinked lazily at him. They stared at each other across the room, and Aomine drowned out the drone of the girls around him as he saw those lips curve up into the smallest of smiles, as though issuing him a challenge. The spell was broken when the man looked away to pick up the thread of conversation with the bartender. They had only made eye contact for moments, but it had seemed like an entire conversation had just happened. Aomine grinned. He knew who he was taking home. He made his excuses curt, finding that being borderline rude was the only way to get girls to lay off – at least for the time being. He made his way through the crowd to the bar and perched himself on the stool beside his quarry.

The blue haired man glanced briefly at him.

"That seat is taken." His voice was soft, almost velvety. It was the kind of voice that gave you the urge to go off into a daydream.

"I've been looking for a while now, and I haven't seen anyone else here." Aomine knew the game he was playing. He'd come across it countless times. Looking at the man's profile, though, he decided that it was definitely worth the effort.

"And what is it that you find so interesting over here?" The tan man smirked slightly. Maybe it wasn't going to be as difficult as he thought.

"You, obviously."

"Quite the charmer, aren't we?" The other man was still avoiding his gaze.

"What can I get you?" Aomine looked up to see the bartender that his guy had been talking to earlier. He gestured at the bluenette's drink. With a nod, the bartender turned away to make his drink.

"I saw you looking at me earlier," he was not interested in beating around the bush. Usually he would've played along, but anyone would be damned if they didn't want in those skin-tight jeans that Aomine hadn't noticed until he sat down.

"Really?" He took a sip of his drink. Aomine watched the motion of him swallowing. He'd never thought a man's throat could be so enticing.

"And a few other times." The bartender approached with his drink and he took it with a nod.

There was a bark of laughter. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn't looking at you."

"You're going to deny it even though I caught you doing it so many times?" The man shrugged.

"It's not my fault that you chose to stand right next to the door."

"So you're telling me there wasn't even a glance at me?" Aomine asked as he watched him take another sip of his drink.

"I'll grant that you got a glance or two, but don't misunderstand; I was merely interested in the number of women that you had surrounded yourself with." Aomine leaned his elbows on the bar and wrapped his hands around the cold glass of his drink. He took a sip as he contemplated his next move. He cocked an eyebrow as the liquid seemed to blow his head to smithereens. That thing ought to be illegal.

"Just catching up on the gossip," he finally answered. He looked up to see the man staring at him. Up this close, Aomine could see the pale blue of his eyes that seemed like some sort of flat mirrors in which he could see his reflection clearly, but with closer inspection, he found that beyond that were crystal clear depths that swam with mysteries.

"I thought you were deciding on which one to walk out with." It was said as a statement, with no judgment whatsoever, but Aomine almost felt ashamed of his earlier intentions. It was definitely those eyes.

"I may have been considering my options," he found himself admitting.

"So what made you walk away from all those pretty girls?"

Aomine made sure to hold his gaze. "I saw you sitting here."

They stared at each other for what seemed like ages, unspoken words being thrown back and forth, and he felt the air around them sizzle with tension. Finally, the other man smiled that strange smile.

"You should have gone home with one of them," he said as he stood up and Aomine watched in amazement as he gulped the rest of his drink as though it was mere water. "I apologize for wasting your time. Good night." He bowed slightly and with a wave at the bartender, he walked out.

Minutes later, Aomine was still staring bemusedly at the door through which that very fine piece of ass had just walked out of when he heard a voice beside him.

"You're wasting your time on him, y'know." Aomine turned to see the bartender leaning against the counter, casually cleaning a glass. They knew each other, sort of. He'd met the man a couple of times on the public basketball courts, and though they got along like oil and water, he was a decent guy.

"So I've been told. What is he, married?" The redhead burst out laughing.

"Kuroko? Married? That man is more flighty than a bird."

Hm, Kuroko? An interesting name for a man with such bright features. And he was as against commitment as Aomine was. He was enthralled. "So what is it?"

Kagami – that was the bartender's name, Aomine belatedly remembered – put down the glass he had been holding to contemplate Aomine.

"He never falls for anyone."

Aomine grinned. "Sounds like my kind of guy."

Kagami shook his head and picked up another glass to begin wiping. "Well, good luck. He's a tough nut to crack, and it's obvious that he isn't interested in you."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

"What gives you that idea?" Kagami asked with a raised eyebrow. Aomine stood up, and decided that he wasn't going to risk his liver trying to finish the poison in his glass. He fished out a small wad of bills and laid them on the counter in between his glass and the empty glass left by Kuroko.

"He let me buy him a drink." With a smirk and a wave, Aomine walked out, leaving a baffled redhead staring at the bills on the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ohmygod, thank you guise for all the reviews! They made my day and I've been grinning like an idiot all day. Please, keep them coming! They helped me kick into high gear, and I've made a bit more progress where I had earlier thought I was stuck, so thanks again! And for everyone else who favourited and followed this, thank you too! I appreciate all of you, huuuuugs**

**Notice: I will be returning to my hometown tomorrow, and we've no idea how long the trip will take, it depends completely on the traffic. If I make it on schedule and I'm not completely exhausted, I'll probably upload the next chapter, but no promises! **

**So if you don't see the next chapter, I'm not slacking, just borderline dead hahaha. **

**Anyway, here's chapter 2! Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters. Only the following story is my own. **

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Aomine spent the rest of the week lost in daydreams about a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes.

He couldn't remember the last time he had been turned down. It was rather refreshing in a way, this game of cat and mouse. It got boring when the women just fell at his feet. The thrill wasn't there anymore.

But he only began to realize how distracted he was when his friends brought it up.

"I'm surprised, Dai-kun," Momoi Satsuki, whom he had known since they were in the cradle, was over at his house for a movie night. She was the only female whom he shared a platonic relationship with, though it couldn't be said that they hadn't been attracted to each other at some point in their lives. Satsuki definitely had her plus points.

He hummed noncommittally as he rummaged through a pile of DVDs for the latest show he had bought.

"This is the first movie night you haven't rescheduled." That made him pause, and he turned around, refusal on the tip of his tongue to see sharp eyes boring into his. He blew out a sigh. Then she went and did that and all her charm went out the window. Instead of the outright lie, he returned to his search and mumbled something in response.

"What was that?"

"I haven't been seeing anyone lately." He said, louder this time.

"Quantify 'lately'." She said drily.

He shrugged. Where the hell was that DVD? "Five days, a week? I don't know."

The dark haired man paused again, this time because of the unusual silence that accompanied his words. He turned around slowly. Satsuki was staring at him, mouth agape.

"What?"

"A week." She said, her voice shocked.

"What about it?" He asked irritably. It wasn't really that abnormal.

"Dai-kun, you've never slept alone in a bed for more than three days at a go since middle school!" Aomine frowned. What the hell? That was definitely an exaggeration.

"Yes I have."

"No you haven't."

"Have so."

"Have not."

"Have!"

"Not!" Aomine glared at his pink-haired friend, movie momentarily forgotten.

"When was the last time, then?" He narrowed his eyes as he delved into his memory and tried to pull up a time when he would spend his nights alone. His mind flashed him a huge blank wall.

Her smug smile made him want to throw a pillow at her.

"Oh my~ Is Dai-kun in looooove?" She grinned wickedly at him. "I must meet this phenomenal woman. Who is she? Does she realize what a milestone she's accomplished?"

Aomine averted his eyes as he said, "He."

The pink-haired girl stared at him blankly for several minutes, and then finally, "Eh?"

"It's a guy. And I'm not in love," he declared, almost as an afterthought. Satsuki, like most women, could spread gossip faster than he could snap his fingers. She burst out laughing.

"It sounds like you're in love, Dai-kun. A guy? Really? Though –" she shot him a contemplative look, " – I'm honestly not surprised. I figured it would only be a matter of time before you got bored of women."

Aomine eyed his friend suspiciously. "You're taking this much too calmly."

She waved a hand nonchalantly. "I come across plenty of gays in my line of work."

Satsuki was a popular model who had recently been making a name for herself as a photographer. He knew what she said was true, he had been to one of her parties, and the plethora of people he had encountered there made up about half of the world's crazy. Still, her easy acceptance of his possible change in sexual orientation disconcerted him.

Wait, did she just call him gay?

"So, how was it?" he looked up at her expectant smile and blinked slowly.

"How was what?" She tsked at him, and rolled her eyes.

"Sex with a guy, dummy."

Once again, Aomine found a spot on his wall decidedly interesting. "We haven't done it. Actually, I've only ever spoken to him once. And he shot me down."

Again, that blank look. He was starting to wonder if Satsuki was really blonde underneath that pink hair. Suddenly, she started giggling, and that turned into a full-blown belly laugh in which she rolled about on his sofa clutching her stomach for a good five minutes while he stared at her, stuck between bemused and embarrassed.

Finally, her laughter died down, and he caught the shine of tears in her eyes. She wiped them away. "Oh. My. God. He turned you down. Dai-kun got turned down. Miracles _do_ happen!"

**xx**

"Why am I here again?"

Aomine looked across the table at his partner. His glasses hid emerald eyes that Aomine knew right now where sharp with annoyance. Midorima was an attractive man, and one of the few people he knew who could hold his own in a crowd next to Aomine. However, the man's disposition left a lot to be desired, and he had a strange fascination with horoscopes that was very disconcerting.

"How's Takao doing?" Aomine asked, avoiding the question. Midorima was also probably the only gay person he knew well enough to be able to talk comfortably about these sorts of things with. The latter narrowed his eyes.

"He's fine. But you're avoiding." They had been partners for years now, and knew how to read each other like open books. Though, if he were honest, Midorima could read him a lot better than he could read Midorima.

With a sigh, Aomine cast his eyes around the bar. It was the same one where he had run into the mystery that was Kuroko nearly a week ago, and he had come today in the hopes of catching him again. As his eyes scanned the crowd, he said, "You're here so I can throw you to the sharks that come in case I need to bolt suddenly."

"What, you're avoiding women now? Aren't we in the wrong place?" Aomine could hear the sarcasm. The green-eyed man was a master at it.

"I'm looking for someone." He replied, taking a sip of his drink.

"Did you lose your phone?" Midorima asked suddenly.

"No," Aomine turned to him with a confused frown. "What does that have to do with looking for someone?"

The other man shrugged. "That would be the only conceivable reason you would be here stalking someone instead of calling them up. Unless you never got her number."

"I didn't," Aomine said flatly. Lately he was finding his promiscuous reputation to be somewhat of an annoyance. It wasn't like he had the number of every female in town. Just most of them. Midorima cocked an eyebrow and was silent for a while.

"I don't get it."

Aomine had gone back to looking through the crowd for a shock of blue hair. Still no luck.

"Don't get what?"

"Well," Midorima began slowly as though he was arranging his thoughts. "You don't keep the numbers of people who you didn't enjoy doing it with, but here you are, stalking a woman whose number you don't have…" He trailed off, looking thoughtful. "The only conclusions I can draw are that you've either lost your phone, her number, or –" his eyes widened suddenly. "—is this that mystery girl that Momoi-san said turned you down?"

"Girl?" Aomine asked, and immediately wished he hadn't. He watched with no little amount of dread as his partner's face slowly split into a devastatingly handsome grin. Shit, he thought. Midorima wasn't the type to grin. When he did, someone either got shot, or wished that they had. That damned Satsuki.

"You got turned down by a _guy_," the obvious glee in his features made him want to punch him. "No, wait, you tried to pick up a _guy_." The way he was emphasizing the word was making Aomine uncomfortable.

"Shut up, frog. It's not that big a deal." Man, he really hated Midorima right now.

"Oh, but it _is_. Takao will love to hear about this." Aomine looked at him, panicked. It was one thing if Satsuki knew, but if both Satsuki and Takao knew, the gossip would spread so fast, it would smack him hard in the face before he even saw it coming. Midorima laughed, the sound distinctively evil. "You should see the look on your face right now. If I didn't know you better, I'd say that you're desperate."

Aomine tossed the green-eyed goblin a pained look. When he found out something this juicy, Midorima never gave up the opportunity to milk every last bit of embarrassment out of his victim.

"Takao doesn't need to know about this."

"Why not? You know I don't keep secrets from him. Especially not something so amazing. Who knew that the womanizing, skirt-chasing douchebag would turn out to be g—" his teasing was cut off with Aomine's hand clamped over his mouth.

"_No one_ needs to know about this," Aomine hissed. "_Especially _not Takao."

Midorima pried his hand away and wiped his mouth primly with a napkin. "So, do you see your mystery man?"

The abrupt change in topic set off alarms in his head, but Aomine knew better than to pursue that thread of conversation. He shook his head. He'd kept an eye on the area around the bartender, but he hadn't recognized any of them.

"Does this man at least have a name?" Midorima was back to his default expression of mild annoyance. Even Aomine was starting to find the bar stifling.

"I only got his last name from the bartender. Kuroko."

"He didn't give you any information at all? Why are you even trying so hard?"

Aomine pursed his lips. He knew why he was so obsessed, but as honest as he was with himself, he wasn't a very honest person with anyone else. "Because I've never lost before. And I don't intend on losing any time soon."

Midorima stared at him in silence for a while. "It's obvious that he isn't interested."

Aomine had to admit that he didn't have any experience dating men. Contrary to what Satsuki believed, he had tried having sex with a guy a couple of times, and hadn't found anything to complain about. But he hadn't tried the dating game with one of them. It was always a one night stand. But he knew how to read the signals, he'd been picking up girls for long enough. Kuroko may have seemed like he wasn't interested, but Aomine remembered the way he smiled, almost as an invitation.

His lips curved up into a handsome smirk. "Oh, I wouldn't say that."

**xx**

Two weeks later, Aomine was beginning to question his confidence. He'd gone to the bar almost every other night for the past fortnight, but even when he questioned the bartender, he'd only gotten a shrug.

Satsuki had taken to dropping by unannounced in the hopes that he was lying when he said that he couldn't find the man and was in fact, hiding him in his closet. Midorima teased him about it daily, and Takao spammed his inbox at least twice a day asking for new development. That bastard lizard had told him anyway.

God, if he could just shoot all his nosy friends.

He was on the verge of giving up, something he'd never admit out loud. He'd gone three weeks without even a peep from the blue-eyed man, and he'd been so distracted by his image in his head that he found it difficult to look at women and actually notice them. Aomine had tried having sex with one of his 'girlfriends', but somehow he found it lacking. Satsuki had had a field day when he told her.

He sat at a booth in the back of the bar, hidden from view but with a clear line of sight to the door. He found the chattering of the women he had been surrounded with before annoying now, and was grateful that he had found the spot in the back where no one would be able to see him unless they were walking to the back of the building.

Aomine stared into the drink that he was nursing. His friends weren't wrong. He knew nothing more than the man's last name, and yet he was going out of his way to meet him again. And as Midorima pointed out, there was no guarantee that he'd be any luckier even if he ran into the bluenette again. But he was stuck on how their last (only) encounter had gone, and kept replaying it over in his mind, editing it and imagining situations in which he was much more in control. He wasn't a control freak, not by a long shot, but it made him uncomfortable thinking about how thrown off balance he had been. Sure, that had been his first reject in a long time, but the more he dwelled on it, the more he realized that what irked him the most about the event was not that he had lost a catch, it was more because he had lost his cool. If he ran into Kuroko again, he would definitely play it cool.

Definitely.

He sighed dejectedly. Maybe he should quit it. There was a limit to how long he could wait. This couldn't be good for his health. He took a gulp of his drink and decided that he would call up one of his girlfriends and set up a date. He needed to go back to normal.

He had just pulled out his phone and was scrolling through the list of names when out of his peripherals he saw a person slide into the seat opposite him. He frowned. He didn't want company right now.

"That seat's taken," he said without looking up.

"I've been looking for a while now, and I haven't seen anyone else here." Aomine froze, and glanced up, almost afraid to hope when he recognized the softly lilting voice and those words.

He locked eyes with soft blue ones and felt his heart skip a beat as Kuroko's lips curled up slowly into that all too familiar teasing smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I promised an update sooner, but today has been an especially busy day. Also, the internet here is high on something, and I've tried multiple times to upload chapter 3. I'm sorry you guise! D: **

**Following that, thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed this, you make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!**

**Anyway, here's the latest chapter, enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

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Aomine stared at the man for a solid five minutes, almost convinced that his desperate mind was playing tricks on him. Finally, he snapped out of it and blurted out the first thing that came to mind which was, "I was beginning to think you'd fallen off the face of the earth."

He wanted to smack himself in the face. Real smooth, Daiki. Real smooth. What was that about playing it cool?

"That was the intention," Kuroko replied, seemingly not picking up on that little tidbit.

"So what made you come back?" Aomine leaned back against his seat, trying surreptitiously to glance under the table and see if the man was wearing those figure-hugging jeans. He caught a flash of shiny black boots as Kuroko crossed his legs. He glanced up to see Kuroko smiling at him knowingly.

"I knew you'd be looking for me." He was impressed. Sure, he'd been with a few confident girls, but the blue-eyed man had said it so plainly, as though there was no other alternative.

"Where do you get that confidence of yours?" Aomine asked, tone slightly sarcastic. He didn't like how desperate Kuroko had made him sound. This was not how he had envisioned their second meeting.

"Probably the same place you get yours," Kuroko retorted.

The tan man leaned forward, resting his chin on a fist. "Isn't that just being cocky, now?"

Kuroko shrugged slightly. "You can't deny it."

"Still." He said, taking a sip of his neglected drink. "You haven't answered me."

Kuroko gave him a look. "Properly," he amended.

"Well, I guess I wanted to see the suave womanizer in action again. However –"He glanced around, noting the obvious lack of female bodies. "—I see you're not surrounded today."

Aomine smiled slowly. His lips curving up wickedly and the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly and a spark seemed to lend a mischievous light to them. This was something he could definitely work with.

"They were a bore," he said with an exaggerated sigh as he relaxed against the bench again. He locked eyes with Kuroko, and noticed that they sparkled like glassy surfaces.

"You're much more interesting," he said, voice intentionally husky. It was usually his winning pitch if he was trying to woo a rather skeptical one. It earned him an amused laugh.

"Definitely suave," Kuroko purred, grinning up at him through hooded eyes. He knew that the blue-haired man was only teasing him with his coy act, but he would have had to be a corpse to not find that move sexy. And the way he purred, that velvet-like voice seemed to become even smoother, like a velvety cake that he just wanted to eat.

On the heels of that thought, giant warning bells went off in his head. He wasn't a poetic man, and he sure as hell wasn't someone who thought along such lines as 'a velvety voice'. If he was smart he'd back off now and let the man disappear. But there was a reason he was in his line of work.

"Though," Kuroko continued, unaware that he'd just been classified – albeit momentarily – as a desert in Aomine's mind, "Are you sure I'm the right person to use all that charm on?"

This was his chance to back off. Make his excuses, walk out of that bar and never return. There were a million reasons that popped up in his mind. First off, they were both guys. Although, Aomine had no problem with that, and he could deduce from all the flirting they'd done, that neither did Kuroko. Secondly, despite what Kagami had told him before, he didn't know for a fact if Kuroko would expect a long-term relationship, something Aomine was very unwilling to promise.

Aomine blinked as he saw Kuroko shift slightly and pull out his phone to answer a call.

"Yes?" His voice had gone from that soft, haunting tone to a sharper one, and that playful grin had been replaced by a surprisingly endearing look of concentration. Kuroko sighed as he listened to the other person on the line. "I told you to leave me be for the weekend, didn't I? You can leave the papers on my desk, I'll check them out on Monday."

Aomine focused on the hand that had begun absentmindedly tracing shapes in the woodwork of the table as he hummed into the phone at intervals. His skin seemed to be translucent in the crappy lighting of the bar. The dark-haired man traced the visible veins with his eyes as he sorted out all the reasons why he should just stop trying to get into Kuroko's pants.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen if I don't come in until Monday. So just leave it on my desk and I'll sort it next week, okay?" Third, there was the fact that they knew literally nothing about each other. What if he was the clingy sort? He didn't like clingy ones.

"I'm busy, Aida-san." Kuroko said, in that flat way that was very final. Aomine was listening, sort of, but his inner dialogue was beginning to drown out what the other way saying. "Take a deep breath and just forget it. Go enjoy your weekend."

"Oh?" The hand tracing shapes on the table paused with his voice, prompting Aomine to look up. Pale blue eyes glinted at him. "I'm with a _very_ hot date."

Fourth, the man was almost certainly a devil disguised as an angel. No one, _no one_ should be able to look so innocent with such a lewd grin. Fifth….

Aomine watched Kuroko end the call and slip the thin device into his pocket again. "So?"

Third, he shouldn't date a person who was could arguably be considered sexier than himself.

"I'll take my chances."

Kuroko's eyes lit up, obviously delighted. In his chest, Aomine's heart spluttered slightly. "So, dinner?"

His head belated reminded him that his original goal with Kuroko was just to get into bed with him. Though, Kuroko didn't look like the kind who would jump into bed with anyone. He comforted himself with the thought, and blatantly ignored the fact that he'd actually offered dinner because he wanted an excuse to keep talking to Kuroko. The end justifies the means. Of course.

"Are you free tomorrow night?" Kuroko asked.

"For you, I'd be free any day of the week." This was good. Kuroko was obviously as eager to get it going as he was. The man let out breathy chuckle. The bad thing was that he seemed to be well aware of how much Aomine was floundering. It was unnerving that every single one of his pickup lines – cheesy, he admitted, but they served their purpose – only seemed to amuse him more.

"You're an interesting one," Kuroko said, fixing Aomine with an unwavering gaze. "I'll be waiting outside the bar at seven, then."

Aomine's eyes followed him as he stood up and left, looking absurdly out of place amidst the noisy, smoke-saturated atmosphere of the bar. Bloody hell, the man _glided._

In retrospect, that should have been his biggest hint that this wasn't going to be a smooth ride.


	4. Chapter 4

**So, I wasn't actually going to upload this chapter until later, but some things came up and also, I feel really bad that some of you couldn't read the latest chapter the other day. Though that means that Chapter 5 may be a bit delayed. Sorries .-.**

**I'm just happy that everything got resolved before I could have a breakdown ahaha... **

**Anyways! Thanks to all of you lovely people who reviewed, favourited and followed this story! You guys are the reason I slave over it continuously even though sometimes I feel like shooting myself ;-; **

**And thanks to all of you who PM'ed me to tell me about the issue, or else I would never have noticed. I'm so happy that there is so much love for my crappy writing. So, into the story! Enjoy, and let me know what you think! :3**

* * *

"Ow!"

Aomine spun in his seat to glare up at his partner, hand rubbing at the sore spot on his head that had made contact with the hard-cased file Midorima held in his hands. "The fuck was that for?!"

"That disgusting look on your face. You've had it on since your ugly ass sashayed in this morning," Midorima replied disgustedly. He walked to his desk which was opposite Aomine's. The stuff they'd each accumulated over the years was stacked in between them, as a sort of makeshift wall for when they didn't want to look at each other's faces. Which was, well, all the time. However, the pile was low, and as both men were unnaturally tall, they could easily talk across at each other just by sitting up. If they didn't want to see the other, they just hand to hunch over their desk slightly.

Now, Midorima sat down facing slightly away from Aomine across their desks as the latter twiddled with his computer, scrolling through online reviews and suggestions to find a nice place near the bar to which he could take his date. He wasn't looking for somewhere incredibly posh. Although Kuroko came off as the kind of person who would fit well in high society, the man's dressing was a lot more down to earth. And inappropriate for the rich crowd in many other ways. Aomine also didn't want to take him somewhere that was crowded and rowdy. What he wanted was somewhere quiet and decent, where they could be alone and he wouldn't have to worry about anyone bothering them, and he could spend the night drowning himself in the man's voice.

Aomine almost didn't register the movements until moments before impact. His eyes widened as his brain kicked into auto-pilot and he twisted his head out of the way just as the eraser went screeching past his ear. He could feel the heat singe part of his hair. Behind him there was a loud thud, and someone shouted for an ambulance. He stared at Midorima, raising an eyebrow. His partner returned the gaze mildly.

"Was that truly necessary?" He asked, the poison in his voice a complete contrast to the blank look he shot his counterpart.

"Yes it was. I can't stand that ridiculous smile on your face." Midorima stated, his voice matter of fact as he resumed typing on his computer.

"You weren't even looking!" Aomine exploded. Their computer screens were faced towards the sides, meaning that as long as they looked at the screen, the other person would be completely out of view.

"I could see your teeth sparkling out of the corner of my eye. It was starting to hurt." Midorima replied with a shrug, eyes still on the computer screen.

Aomine cursed under his breath. Why they'd stayed partners for so long, he hadn't the faintest idea. Neither could stand the other, and the whole department knew it.

Minutes later, the office had calmed down and the man who had been hit by the eraser had been seen to by the paramedics. Aomine had resumed his search, and Midorima was still clicking away on his keyboard. Suddenly, the silence was broken.

"How did your date go?" Aomine looked up at the casual question. His tone had been easygoing, but he could read the curiosity in those eyes.

"What date?" He asked deliberately. He knew that part of the reason Midorima was asking was because Takao hadn't let him rest with his pestering. He wasn't going to make this easy for the frog. As though reading his mind, the latter shot him a dirty look.

"The date last night. He finally showed up, right?"

"What makes you say that?" Aomine asked. Midorima raised an eyebrow at him.

Right. The disgusting look on his face.

"He did, but it wasn't a date." Midorima almost looked sorry. "I'm meeting him tonight for an official one."

The green-eyed man almost looked happy, though Aomine suspected it was because he finally had news to take back to his boyfriend to get him to shut up for a while.

"You're putting an awful lot of effort into this date," he observed.

"Am I?" Aomine asked, going back to his research.

"Usually you just take your girls to whichever bar happens to be the closest and get them drunk."

"Yeah, well." Midorima didn't need to know that he was actually really looking forward to sitting down and having a chat with Kuroko.

"Have you found a nice place?" The navy-haired man threw a suspicious glance at the man across the desks. Midorima looked back innocently. Something was up. He was never this inquisitive, nor did he ever hint at an offer for help. Usually, what he'd get was disgust and be cursed with AIDS.

"No," he replied cautiously. Midorima stood up, the move so sudden that the others nearby glanced up, startled. Not paying them any attention, he walked around his desk and shoved Aomine out of the way, tugging his keyboard closer. He quickly typed in the name of a restaurant, and pointed at the address and phone number on the company's website.

"It's quiet and secluded, and the food's good." With that, he returned to his seat and resumed his work.

Aomine stared at the computer screen then at his partner, expression baffled. After a while, he manages a, "Thanks."

Midorima gave him a curt nod, eyes completely focused on the screen in front of him. Aomine snapped a picture of the address and contact number of the restaurant with his phone and then glanced at the time on his screen. Four hours to go.

**xx**

He pulled up in front of the bar an acceptable eight minutes before seven. He had deliberately driven as slowly as his impatience would allow him, having left the house nearly an hour ahead of time. He lived barely a fifteen minute drive away.

For the umpteenth time, he glanced up into the rearview mirror to check for a wayward strand of hair or something stuck between his teeth. He ran a hand over the unblemished skin of his chin, grateful that he had recently gotten a new razor that left his face feeling extremely smooth. Midnight eyes stared back at him as the corner of his mouth curved up into a small smirk. He knew that he was exceptionally attractive even without any effort, but he'd gone out of his way to dress up for the night in black slacks and a pale blue dress shirt that made the navy of his hair and eyes stand out even more.

The effort was partly to impress Kuroko, but it was also because Midorima hadn't mentioned what kind of dress code the restaurant had, and if the place was more casual than he was dressed for, he had only to roll up the sleeves of his shirt and undo a few buttons and he'd fit right in. Sometimes it was good to have a model for a friend.

However, he didn't have any way of contacting Kuroko, and so he hadn't any idea what he would show up in. One thing he was sure of was that no matter what the blue-eyed man wore, he'd attract attention.

Two minutes before the clock on his dashboard hit seven, he saw the bright blue shock of hair appear from the end of the street. His eyes followed him, happy to notice that Kuroko was dressed rather well, too, in the pair of dark boots that he had seen the night before, gray jeans, and a black vest over a black long-sleeved dress shirt. He definitely had a grasp on the term 'smart casual'.

As his eyes trailed after Kuroko, admiring the way his clothes fit him, he noticed other eyes following the man. And they weren't exclusively female. To his surprise, more than just the smugness he felt when he knew he was going to be seen with a very attractive date, there was a foreign urge to go up and reprimand the men who were throwing suggestive glances at his date. Didn't those guys realize how disgusting they looked?

Kuroko had almost reached the door of the bar, when it dawned on Aomine that the other wouldn't know to look out for his car. He leaned on his honk, the sound turning several heads, but it did the job. A smile slipped onto Kuroko's face as he sauntered over to his vehicle.

An easy smile lit up his face as the bluenette opened the passenger door and leaned in.

"Hey, sexy," he greeted, as the weight he had been carrying with him since the night before dissipated. He had secretly feared that Kuroko wouldn't show up at all, and he'd be left hanging looking like a total idiot.

"Hey," Kuroko said, looking extremely pleased with the nickname. "Where're we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"This is unexpected," he said as he slid into the car and shut the door. "I almost expected you to just try and get me drunk."

Aomine's smile faltered. What the hell? Were he and Midorima friends?

"That's absurd." He remembered the way Kuroko had downed the lethal concoction during their first encounter. "I'm not going to waste my time hoping on the impossible."

Kuroko turned to him with a grin, probably remembering that first night too. Aomine pulled out of the parking spot and merged into traffic. They drove for a while in silence.

"I hope I'm not under-dressed." Kuroko said, breaking the silence.

Aomine wanted to laugh. With the eyes that had followed him earlier, Aomine knew that most everyone, himself including, rather wished he was.

"I wouldn't know if you are. I've never been to this restaurant before." He admitted, careful to keep his eyes on the road and not on the form he could see had started writhing out of his peripherals.

"That's nice. It'll be a surprise for both of us, then," came his reply, followed by a grunt.

"What are you _doing_?" Aomine asked, turning his attention away from the road briefly. Kuroko stared back at him, an arm frozen in position over his head as though he was trying to reach the back of his shirt.

"Oh, am I distracting you?" More than you'd like to know, Aomine thought wryly. "This was a present from someone and I forgot to clip out the tag. It's itchy as hell."

Deciding that having the man flopping about in his car could end rather badly for him, Aomine pulled up on the side of the road and turned to him.

"Turn around," he ordered. Kuroko complied, and Aomine caught himself wondering if he was this obedient in bed. Now is not the time, Daiki.

He tugged down the collar of the shirt, exposing creamy white skin. He resisted the urge to run a trail up the back of Kuroko's neck with his tongue. He didn't need a black eye to enhance his looks. Shutting off that part of his brain, he made quick work of the tag, snapping it easily and dropping it onto Kuroko's lap.

As he released his hold on the collar, he let his fingers brush lightly over Kuroko's skin, feeling the smoothness of it send a tingly sensation to the bottom of his spine. He put the car into gear and continued the drive with no outwardly apparent change in demeanor but on the inside, he congratulated himself on doing nothing more than that.

He was only human.

**xx **

"That was delicious," If there was a person who could radiate satisfaction, he was sitting in Aomine's passenger seat. As far as Kuroko was concerned, the way to his heart, Aomine had discovered, was through vanilla flavoured desserts, preferably milkshakes. He'd downed an obscene amount of them throughout their dinner.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Aomine said. Midorima's suggestion had been spot on, and they had been able to talk in quiet seclusion. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was exactly what he'd been aiming for.

Kuroko had not disappointed either. They'd talked for most of the meal, only pausing occasionally to take a bite of the food in front of them.

He'd found it slightly odd, though, that the blue-eyed man made sure not to talk about anything personal. If something related came up, he'd easily steer the conversation away from it. It was so that Aomine left that restaurant with a building sense of curiosity about the enigmatic man and knowing nothing more than what he'd found out up till that point.

Aomine pulled up to a stop in front of the same bar which they had departed from, and turned a smile towards the man in the next seat. He'd offered to send him straight home, but Kuroko had given him a knowing look and insisted that he'd be fine walking.

"You're sure about that drink?" Aomine asked. Not deterred by that let down, he had immediately suggested that Kuroko go to his apartment – which was a convenient distance away from the bar – and have a drink before he went home.

"Very sure. You must have noticed how much milkshake I drank earlier," Kuroko smiled slightly, the movement almost too cute to bear. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner."

"It was my pleasure," Aomine returned the smile, dark eyes glinting in the street light. He leaned over the armrest that divided them, eyes travelling from the glassy depths of Kuroko's eyes to his lips. This was the perfect way to end the night.

Aomine knew that he didn't have a chance of getting laid that night, but he was definitely going home with _something. _

He had inched forward slowly, as though afraid of scaring Kuroko away. He watched Kuroko drop his gaze, and marveled at how long his lashes were. His eyes had slid half closed when his lips encountered something that he wasn't expecting. He pulled away slightly. Between their faces Kuroko held up a small piece of paper that looked like an old receipt. He grinned up at the dark haired man.

"I don't kiss until the fourth date."

Aomine stared at him, feeling his heart sink. "You're kidding, right?"

Kuroko laughed at the look on Aomine's face. "Of course, but I'm not about to kiss someone who had tuna for dinner."

Aomine made a sound and drew away completely. He shouldn't have turned down the waiter's offer for mint tea. Kuroko opened the door and got out, and then stood outside for a while, looking as though he was leaning on the roof of the car.

Just as Aomine was going to ask him what he was up to, he bent down again and handed him that faded receipt from earlier. "If you're up for the next three dates."

Aomine glanced at the piece of paper and saw a phone number scrawled on it, along with the name, _Kuroko Tetsuya_.

"Tetsu, huh?" He looked up in time to see Kuroko look slightly surprised. Well, what could he say? He was a friendly person. Then he smiled that strange smile again.

"You're the first one to think of that," he said. At least he wasn't getting something thrown at him. "I rather like it."

Score!

"Great. Me too," Aomine slipped the piece of paper into his pocket. "So, until next time?"

"Until next time." Kuroko surprised him by climbing partway back into the car and leaning over the armrest to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again."

Aomine nodded dumbly, having momentarily misplaced his voice. He watched as Kuroko waved and began walking down the street, looking practically ethereal in the dim street lights.

Unconsciously, he ran his fingers over the spot where he could still feel the lingering sensation of Kuroko's lips on his skin. It was ridiculous that he was getting this worked up over a kiss on the cheek. It hit him that it was his first in a really long time. And to have gone on a date that wasn't followed by a night together in bed.

Kuroko was doing strange things to him. Aomine pulled out the slip of paper again and stared at what was written on it.

Damn it.

He almost wished that Kuroko wasn't worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Gomenasai! My schedule's been messed up, and I haven't been able to write the past few days. I was kidnapped by aliens that looked like reverse centaurs and it took me a while to explain to them that I was Asian and that they were in the wrong country. I had to draw them a map to the US. And my drawing sucks, which is why I took so long. :**

**I only started writing this three hours ago, and I am so happy that I'm finally done with it. Chapter 6 should be up before Sunday, though that depends on nothing else coming up to distract me. Ugh. ;-;**

**On a much more important note, thank you all for showing your support for this! Admittedly, I'm surprised at how much you guys enjoy sexy!Kuroko because I was worried that he'd be too out of character. But yay, you approve! *Throws confetti***

**For everyone who reviewed, I wish I could convey how much your words of encouragement mean to me. Sometimes I just start grinning like an idiot because I remember what you said. True story. **

**And to all of you who favourited and followed this, I send you all internet hugs. The amount of support and love, just. Ugh. Like, why do you guys enjoy stories my sleep deprived brain comes up with. Just. I can't. .-. **

**Anyway, enjoy this, and please do let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Oh my _God_." Aomine winced and held his phone away from his ear at the squeal. "He kissed you on the cheek! That is the cutest thing ever!"

The blue-haired man rolled his eyes. He couldn't dispute that Kuroko had been almost fatally cute at some moments, but he had been wishing for something a little more fulfilling than that. He'd gone home feeling a strange combination of happiness and dissatisfaction, and before he had realized, he'd hit the speed-dial for Satsuki. He was probably still suffering from some residual dumbness that had hit him when Kuroko had planted the kiss on his cheek. Satsuki continued rambling down the line.

"I have _got_ to meet this man! Wait, you did get his number this time, didn't you?" She asked, her voice switching from excited to serious in a nanosecond.

"Yes, yes, I have it." Aomine patted the pocket almost unconsciously just to make sure. "I've only met him three times, he's not going to meet the family yet."

Satsuki snorted, sounding very un-ladylike. "At the rate you're falling for him, you'll propose by the third date."

Aomine considered her words. Since he'd met Kuroko, his friends have repeatedly commented on how attracted (Read: Obsessed) he was to Kuroko. After the events of their first official date, he was starting to believe their words. There was something alluring about him, a sort of mysteriousness and pull that seemed to be drawing him in. He stood out, but not in a very obvious way. While they had dinner, Aomine had noticed that his dressing was muted, and so were his movements. He was quiet, and didn't really seem to pop out, once you spent time around him for long enough and he had this calming effect that made the very atmosphere around him radiate tranquility.

But that in itself was why he turned so many heads. Aomine couldn't really explain it, but there was something distinctively _off_ about the man that made him so much more interesting. Well, that and his gorgeous face. He paused in his train of thoughts. Maybe Satsuki wasn't wrong.

**xx**

Aomine sat at his desk, twirling the piece of paper that had Kuroko's number on it between his fingers, completely lost in thought. Around him, the usual chaos of slamming doors, falling objects, and thugs being carted around continued, completely ignorant of the dazed man.

Suddenly, where the piece of paper had been, Aomine's fingers registered only air. He looked up, head still too deep in the clouds to register irritation at the green-eyed man who stood examining the scrap beside him.

"Kuroko Tetsuya," Midorima read out the name on the paper. "So you finally got his number. What did it take?"

"Eleven vanilla milkshakes."

Midorima stared at Aomine's glassy eyes. He then tossed the scrap of paper onto his desk and turned towards his own. "You sure know how to pick 'em."

Aomine picked up the piece of paper and resumed fiddling with it. The silence continued for a while. Aomine was the first to speak.

"Do you think I'm too into this guy?" He asked, in a faraway voice.

"Yes," Midorima answered immediately, not looking up from his paperwork.

"There's just something about him," Aomine mused, as though talking to himself. "I can't seem to get him out of my head."

Midorima paused, and putting down his pen, tore off a bit of note paper, scrunched it up, and threw it at Aomine. It plonked him between his eyes. He blinked, snapped out of his daze, and glared at Midorima. The latter just returned to the folder in front of him, looking satisfied.

Aomine was about to toss an insult at his partner when the door to their Chief's office opened, and he bellowed for them.

**xx**

"He's a confirmed serial killer now," Aomine listened to his Chief's briefing as he and Midorima flipped through a file that had been handed to them. "He's killed three women, and though he doesn't have a specific M.O., he has a very distinct taste in women. Early to mid-twenties, long, light coloured hair, and worked as models at some point or another."

The folder contained photos from four crime scenes, three of them gruesome murders, and the fourth, photos of an upturned room and small, random blood splatters. "What's the fourth crime scene for?"

"He broke in and tried to attack the girl, but her boyfriend was with her, and he managed to fight him off. He's in the hospital now."

"He got away?"

"Yeah, through the same window he entered. Witnesses saw him leaving in a black Audi."

Midorima raised his eyebrows. "An Audi? Was anything taken from the previous murders?"

"Nothing of value. However, one of the vic's family who came to claim her belongings said that she was missing an old vintage camera that she'd bought at a thrift store."

Aomine and Midorima shared a glance.

"I want this guy found," their Chief continued. "I don't need another psychotic idiot out on the street violating women. God knows I have enough of those in my own department."

He gave Aomine a meaningful look.

"Hey!" Aomine protested. "I am _not_ a psychotic idiot. And what does my love life have to do with my job?"

Midorima snorted.

"It's funny 'cause you said 'love'," he muttered.

"Nothing, besides the fact that I don't dare bring my daughter to Family Day for fear of her innocence." His chief replied, both of them ignoring Midorima's comment.

"If she looks anything like you, you don't need to worry." Aomine retorted. Despite his words, he actually had a lot of respect for his superior. He'd been his guide through his first years out of college, and was always watching out for him and Midorima. His boss tossed him a poisonous glare.

"You shot a guy who came on to you!"

"Woah, woah. I didn't shoot him for that. He tried to run off with a lady's bag!" He burst out defiantly.

"Most cops just run after them," the Chief said drily.

Aomine shrugged nonchalantly. No one had gotten killed, right? The man had to walk with a cast on a leg for two months after that, but he should have thought about that before he ran off with the lady's bag with a cop present. "It was less effort. Anyway, I ain't got any problems with gays. I've been stuck with this asshole for four years."

Midorima shot him a mildly disgusted look. "Don't forget you're one of us now."

"What?" The Chief piped up before Aomine could refute his statement. "You're gay now?"

"Am not, this id—" He began but was cut off by the damned snake.

"He _is_. He's been pining after this guy for over a month now, and –" Midorima leaned forward conspirationally, prompting their Chief to do the same thing. " – He hasn't gotten in bed with him."

His boss leaned back with a low whistle. "I like this guy. He's got something special if he can make you keep your claws to yourself."

Aomine groaned. Why was everyone making him out to be such a slut? He didn't switch sex partners _that_ often. Okay, maybe a bit more often than most guys, but when there are plenty of fish in the ocean, why stick to a tiny glass aquarium?

"You should invite him over for dinner one day. The wife's been complaining that she can't remember what your," he raised two fingers of each hand in the sign of quotes. "Gorgeous empty head looks like."

Aomine shot him a dirty look, which he answered with a casual shrug. "Her words, not mine."

"I volunteer him as sacrifice," Aomine said, pointing a thumb in Midorima's direction.

"He, at least, comes over every once in a while." His Chief replied, giving him a piercing stare. "And Takao and my daughter are great friends."

His statement was followed by a moment of silence. There had been a barely perceptible wince from the older man when he said that. Midorima stared at a place on his desk for a while, and then looked their Chief in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he said, actually sounding sincere. The Chief nodded, and then sighed.

"I guess it's better that it's Takao than Ahomine."

"Hey!" Aomine protested.

**xx **

The next day, Aomine unlocked the door to his apartment and tossed his keys in the general direction of the table he had placed there specifically for tossing his keys at. There was the thud of metal hitting wood. His fingers fumbled along the wall, attempting to find the switch that would turn on the lights and get rid of the dark gloominess. Finally finding it, he flipped the switch, and immediately his living room was bathed in bright, fluorescent light.

Shutting the door behind him with his foot, he grunted as he struggled out of the scarf he had wrapped around his neck. The weather was going crazy. Two days ago it had been warm enough to walk around in little more than a long sleeved shirt, but now the temperature had dropped so low that he had to leave the house looking like the Michelin man. It was damn uncomfortable.

He proceeded to the kitchen, losing first his coat, then his tie, his socks, and finally rolling up the sleeves of his shirt so that they rested right above his forearms. The heater in his apartment would take a while to heat up, so he couldn't take off his shirt yet. He tinkered about, making himself a simple dinner. The day had been grueling. Midorima and he had scoured what felt like the whole of Tokyo, checking up on leads and revisiting witnesses from the previous murder cases. He'd walked so much the soles of his shoes were in a dire state.

He should probably set a date with Satsuki to go shopping for a new pair soon. Aomine didn't believe in owning many pairs of shoes. Or owning many of anything, really. His closet was modest, and he had a pair of work shoes, sports shoes, open-toed slippers, and a pair of dress shoes. That was hardly anything to boast about, especially not in comparison with a woman who owned a room full of them. Plus, he rather detested shopping. He tolerated grocery shopping, only because if he didn't, he'd die of either starvation or malnutrition, but otherwise, hell freezing over wouldn't be able to force him into a mall.

He glanced up from the boiling pot of ramen in front of him at the sound of his ringtone. He padded back into his living room and picked up his coat. He rummaged through one of the pockets, and pulled out the device, answered it and returned to the kitchen to stare at his cooking food.

"Yes?" He had only glanced at the screen, and it had been a private number.

"Daiki-kun?" He instantly recognized the soft voice on the other side. She had been one of his longer affairs until about the time he'd been enraptured by Kuroko. She was a married woman, in her early thirties. Extremely attractive, with expensive tastes, but Aomine never worried because all she had wanted from him was sex. He had been meaning to call her until he'd discovered Kuroko.

"Hey," he fished desperately for her name. He was generally really bad with names, and needed an associated face before he could attach a name.

"Saya!" He exclaimed, the light bulb burning bright over his head. From the way he said her name, of course, she'd know that he had only just remembered. But she didn't comment.

"You haven't called in the longest time," she said. She was less clingy than some of his girlfriends, which was why they had lasted so long, but she was still female.

"Yeah, well, I've been busy with work lately." He replied. It wasn't a lie. He had been busy. Since yesterday.

"That's too bad. Are you still off on Thursdays?"

He frowned, annoyed. He'd lost interest in her. He'd told her as much, though in a much nicer way, the last time they had met. He didn't enjoy having secret rendezvous and creeping about like a criminal. He was a cop, for crying out loud. "I am, but I'm busy this Thursday."

He glanced at the calendar on the wall of his living room. Today was Tuesday, that meant that he had two days to find someone to keep him company doing something to pass the time. Looks like he was going to meet up with Satsuki sooner than he'd expected.

"Oh." He could hear the disappointment in her voice. He'd gone through this play too many times to feel bad, though. "Well, call me the next time you're free."

Aomine picked up a pair of chopsticks and stirred his noodles violently, making a ruckus.

"Oops, sorry, I'm a bit distracted right now. Got to go, bye!" He ended the call before she could say anything else. Sighing, he leaned his hip against the counter, staring thoughtfully at the phone in his hand. He slipped his free hand into his pocket and pulled out the piece of faded receipt. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number quickly and hit the call button, feeling butterflies in his stomach. What if no one picked up?

"Hello?" He let out the breath he had been holding. Even though he'd spent only a little bit of time with him, Aomine was able to distinguish Kuroko's voice easily.

"Hey, this is Aomine." He wouldn't have forgotten him already, right?

"Aomine-kun!" A smile slipped onto his face as he registered the obvious delight in the other's voice. "I thought there was a three day rule or something?"

Aomine laughed. "I guess I was really missing you."

"Still as smooth as ever," Kuroko's breathy chuckle sent tingles down his spine. Maybe he could secretly record his voice. "To what do I owe this honour?"

"I was wondering if you're free this Thursday."

"Hm, Thursday," He heard some rummaging in the background and then, "I have school in the morning, but I'm free from lunch onwards."

School? He looked young, but Aomine had assumed that he was about the same age as him if he was able to get access into a bar. He felt dread settle in his stomach. Even for Kuroko he would think twice about becoming a pedophile. "Hey, Tetsu, can I ask you something?"

There was a pause on the other side. Aomine immediately reviewed his words, trying to see if he had said something unintentionally offensive. "Tetsu?"

Another moment of silence, and then, "Say that again."

"What?"

"That nickname."

"Tetsu…?" Aomine repeated hesitantly. He wasn't very sure where this was going. Kuroko laughed delightedly.

"I was right! It sounds so much better when Aomine-kun says it."

Right. He was the first one to think of that nickname. Kuroko had liked it. _Shit_. Was it possible to die of an adorable overload?

Aomine coughed. "Yeah, so, um, about that question?"

"Oh! What was it?"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

The dread that had begun to fester in his stomach disappeared, and he almost felt giddy with relief. "That's cool. We're the same age."

"Really?" Kuroko sounded genuinely surprised. "I thought you were older."

"What? No!" He said hastily. He wasn't really sure why he was getting riled up about his age, it had never really bothered him. But the idea that Kuroko thought he was going out with an older guy was… odd.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," Kuroko replied. "It's just that your sexiness was kinda more sophisticated and elegant."

Man, if Midorima got wind of this he'd die of a stomach cramp from too much laughing. No wait, forget the bastard.

_Who the hell describes sexiness as sophisticated and elegant? _Worse still, what was with that flat way that he said that?

This was it. He couldn't take any more of this. Wall, meet face. Face, meet wall.

"What are we doing on Thursday?" Kuroko's voice pulled him away from his inner turmoil.

"Nothing much, I need a new pair of shoes and I was hoping you'd keep me company." He responded. Kuroko was quiet for a bit, and he worried that he would get turned down.

"I'll treat you to vanilla shakes," he added, as the silence was becoming unbearable. Kuroko laughed. He wished he had one of the department's phone taps in his apartment so he could record the man's laugh and replay it until he died or went insane.

"You're a fast learner," he said, smile evident in his voice. "I was going to say yes, anyway. I'll text you the address of my school so you can come pick me up?"

Did he even need to phrase that as a question? "Sure, that'd be great."

"Alright," he heard rustling in the background. Was he in bed? "I'll see you on Thursday, then."

"Thursday it is." Aomine agreed. "Good night and sweet dreams."

Kuroko chuckled. "I know yours will be."

Midorima, although Aomine was hard-pressed to admit it, was right.

He was really good at picking them.


	6. Chapter 6

**My laptop crashed! T^T Ugh, I hope it gets fixed soon. Oh, and shoutout to Bree and anyone else who actually reads this! Yes, I am perfectly fine, but I think that they took my laptop's soul to replace mine. **

**Anyway, no long ramble, except a heads up in case I don't upload Chapter 7 for a while, you'll know it's because I don't have a laptop. **

**I'll make sure that doesn't happen! So, enjoy, and let me know what you think! **

**Favourites, follows, and reviews are much loved, yay! You make me feel good. **

* * *

Kuroko's school, it turned out, was a kindergarten.

Aomine parked his car and climbed out, leaning idly against the door as he watched the children run around the playground. As he craned his neck to try and get a glance into the compound, he felt more than saw something flying towards him. Before he could register what the missile was, his hand had automatically reached out and grabbed it, seconds before it made contact with his face. He blinked at the basketball in his hand and gave it a spin on his index finger.

"That is so cool!" Aomine looked up to see about a dozen pairs of wide eyes enticed by the spinning ball on the tip of his finger. With a quick motion of his hand, the ball went flying over the fence towards the kids. A pair of arms reached out to catch it, and Aomine was amused to see that the ball itself was at least half the length of the arm.

"Do that again!" His eyes travelled over the crowd until he found the source of the voice. Golden eyes shone at him excitedly, and he had the urge to shield his face from the glare. "Sure, but I can't do it from out here."

"Oh, that's alright. The gate isn't locked." It wasn't very noble of him, but well, he could hardly refuse such excited kids. It was merely a plus point that he'd probably be able to peep in a window and see Kuroko. He walked along the fence to where the sunshine kid was waiting for him, practically skipping in place. True enough, the gate swung open easily and he briefly wondered if he would get into trouble for this. Well, he was a cop. That had to count for something, right?

As soon as he entered the premises he was surrounded by what seemed like thirty toddlers, none of them even reaching his hip.

"Show us how you did that again!" The ball had been passed through the crowd, and now Sunshine was nudging it into his hands. He accepted it, and with extremely slow movements, spun the ball again. There were excited chattering, and several of them stood up on their tip toes to try to get a better look at it. It had been a while since he'd last held a basketball, but the sport had always come naturally to him. Now, he lowered himself, so that he was kneeling. As the ball got closer, the eyes of the children grew wider, and Aomine had to swallow the desire to laugh. Was he this easily impressed when he was a kid?

He stopped the ball and held it with both hands in front of him. He grinned at all the expectant faces turned towards him. "Want to see a few other tricks?"

**xx**

"Kuroko-kun, is that an acquaintance of yours?" Kuroko turned towards the woman who stood by one of the windows, frowning at something outside. He patted the head of the child whom he had been helping to pick a paint colour and joined her by the window. Outside, was utter chaos. He had noticed that the children outside were being noisier than usual, but that wasn't uncommon. Now, he knew that the reason for the uproar was the dark-skinned man who stood amongst Kuroko's students like a tree amongst ferns.

He held a basketball and was trying to teach one of the kids to balance it on her index finger. Kuroko smiled slightly. Aomine hadn't really struck him as the sort of person who was good with kids. "Yes, he's my date for the day."

Aida Riko turned narrowed eyes towards him.

"This is the first time I've known you to bring a date here. But it's too bad," she sighed. "Kuroko-kun gets all the good men."

"That's because you always don't want to go out on dates, Aida-san."

"Meh," she huffed. "You say the same thing every time."

"You say the same things, too."

"Why are you so unsympathetic?" She whined. Aida was a year older than Kuroko, and was the daughter of the man who owned the kindergarten. They'd been friends since high school, and had come to think of each other as siblings.

"Sympathy won't get you anywhere."

"Wasn't that flattery? Not that you're doing a very good job of either," she said drily. They turned towards the scene outside again. The group had moved towards the mini basketball court and were playing a game in which Aomine was trying very hard to lose.

"Shouldn't you go out and greet him? It's not nice to make him wait."

Kuroko glanced at his watch. Aomine was early. There was still ten minutes left before the bell rang and the parents would pick the children up. He looked outside again, and decided that Aomine looked perfectly happy where he was.

"He's fine out there with them. At least none of them will try to climb the fences."

Aida hummed in agreement and both of them returned to their tasks.

When the bell rang, there was the usual rush as kids raced to the gate and located their parents. Kuroko followed the stream of kids out into the sunlight and locked eyes with Aomine's. The handsome grin that lit up the latter's face had his heartbeat increasing slightly. Already, he could see the curious eyes of parents and children alike. The parents and the teachers got along well, and as there were only fifteen teachers in the school, all the parents knew each of them by name. Aomine was a foreigner in the sea of toddlers, and even some of the teachers were eyeing him.

It also had to do with the fact that he was incredibly attractive.

Kuroko had not been lying that first night when he said he was looking at the door. But Aomine had gotten more than a couple of glances. Even so, Kuroko hadn't been interested in a relationship. He still wasn't, not really, but Aomine was doing a great job of reworking his opinion.

"Thanks for keeping the kids entertained. I'm sorry that you had to deal with them." Kuroko said by way of greeting as he got within earshot of Aomine. The other man shook his head.

"Don't be, I had fun. Some of them were pretty good, too. Who knows, they might go pro one day." Aomine said with a smile. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that hinted at muscled thighs. Kuroko had to remind himself that openly staring was generally unaccepted by society.

"I'll go give the place a quick look over and I'll meet you at your car," he said instead. He wasn't the kind to drool, but there was always a first time for everything. He spun around and returned to the school building. Opening the door, he was met with practically every one of his female co-workers leaning eagerly into his personal space.

"_Who_ is _that_?" They were practically sparkling at him.

"My date for the day," he gave them the same answer he'd given Aida. As one, they groaned.

"Why do you get all the good ones?" One of them asked piteously.

"Some of you are married," he pointed out.

"That's besides the point," another said, waving away his words. "We want a chance at the good ones, too!"

Kuroko grinned, something he didn't do very often when he was at work. The betrayed looks turned dazed.

"You had a chance at me." He winked, a cheesy move, but something that worked every time. He then took the opportunity to escape to his office and grab his things, leaving the women practically leaning on each other to stay up.

**xx **

"Some of them were asking me if I was the new teacher there," Aomine was saying with a laugh. Many of them were female, too. Oh, if he had a cent for every glare he got from the men.

"Usually all adults on the premises are, it's not surprising." Kuroko replied. He had returned to see Aomine swarmed like a celebrity. Kids were staring up at him, wide-eyed, while mothers, and some fathers, asked him unceasing questions. Kuroko had stood there until Aomine caught sight of him, which wasn't very long, as he had been throwing frequent glances in the direction of the door. Kuroko was pleased when he noticed that, and had decided to ignore the annoyance he felt at the people who had tried to grab Aomine's attention.

Aomine watched Kuroko carefully. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, but from now on we're probably going to start locking the gate. It was fortunate that it was you, and not someone with malicious intent."

On the contrary, Aomine did indeed harbor malicious intent, but it wasn't towards the children. Kuroko took a long sip of his vanilla milkshake. Aomine had managed to find a pair of shoes that he liked at a reasonable price and they were now in a fast food chain that Kuroko had mentioned had great vanilla milkshakes.

Aomine took the last bite of his burger, chewing slowly as he thought. Shopping had been less tedious with Kuroko than it was with Satsuki. It was also a lot more interesting. Aomine was used by now to the glances and excited whispers that sometimes followed him when he went shopping, but when he was with Kuroko the flurry of activity around them seemed to be a never-ending buzz. Also, maybe it was obvious that it was a date, but Aomine had started noticing a few male eyes too, and not all of them were on Kuroko.

The attention was pretty evenly distributed, he decided, blinking slightly as he came back to the present. Kuroko was staring at him, that small, mysterious smile playing about his lips, completely lost in his own world. The dark-haired man clenched his teeth and leaned away slightly, as though that physical movement would be enough to erase the overpowering urge to capture Kuroko's lips with his own.

"Ready to go?" His voice sounded hoarse, and he took a sip of his cola, concentrating on the sensation of the sweet liquid going down his throat rather than on the adorable look of confusion Kuroko had shot him.

"Oh, yeah… sure." They stood and left, the admiring gazes following them all the way to the parking lot. If he had one sincere regret since meeting Kuroko, it would be that he couldn't kiss him in public like he could with a girl. Not that he really cared about what society thought, since doing something like that would probably stop all the hounding he got from the female crowd. He was worried about how Kuroko might take it. He didn't come off as the showy type of person.

They both got into the car, and Aomine had put the car into gear when he was stopped by Kuroko. He shot the latter a questioning look, and heard him drink up the last bits of his vanilla milkshake.

"Be right back," he said, and got out of the car. Navy blue eyes followed him as he walked to the nearest trash can and tossed the cup. It should be impossible to look that attractive just _walking_. Aomine mused. He still couldn't get over how the smaller man seemed to float on a pillow of air.

"That was a great date," Kuroko said as he slid into the seat, looking extremely happy. "You know what would have made it better, though, was –" Kuroko's voice was cut off by Aomine's lips on his. He _did_ mention what would have made it better.

If Aomine was having trouble forgetting Kuroko before this, it would be nearly impossible from now on. There was a lingering taste of the drink that Kuroko had consumed, and a taste that Aomine was sure was Kuroko's exclusively. It made the artificial, oversweetened cola that he took taste like frizzy water in comparison.

Slipping a hand around the back of Kuroko's head, he relished in the tantalizing feel of the soft strands of his hair as he buried his fingers in Kuroko's hair and stroked lightly. Any worries he may have had that Kuroko would be upset with him over the kiss was banished when the other man leaned eagerly into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Aomine's neck.

When they were running out of air, Aomine broke the kiss. They remained in the same position, chests heaving, eyes searching.

"That was supposed to be for the fourth date," Kuroko finally broke the silence, drawing a burst of laughter from Aomine.

"I'll gladly accept the consequences." He answered, hand slipping down to wrap around Kuroko's waist. He marveled at how delicate the bluenette felt in his arms. He tugged Kuroko closer and kissed him again, muffling his protest.

"If I'm not coming over," he mumbled, tracing Kuroko's jawline with his lips. "Then I'm not sending you home until I've had my fill."

When Aomine found a sensitive spot below his ear, Kuroko's moan had his temperature rising by several degrees. Was he just imagining it or was his skin as sweet as his lips were?

Dark eyes searched Kuroko's pale blue ones, which were, Aomine was pleased to notice, darkened with lust. "Which is it?"

Kuroko gave him a wicked grin. "We could probably do a lot more on a bed."

Not giving him a chance to change his mind, Aomine put the car into gear and sped off.


	7. Chapter 7

**My computer was repaired! Woooo! And I didn't have to reformat everything, so life is amaaaazing right now. **

**I'm so happy about all the love that this fic is getting right now, you guise make me feel so good~**

**Was Sunshine, Kise? I'm not telling. But you'll all eventually find out, so be patient! Also, about bumping this up to M, no I won't. Not yet, at any rate. I want to torment you some more, so there. *insert diabolical laugh here* **

**Thank you for all the favourites, follows, and reviews! I'm as much in love with this story as you are, and I wish I hadn't written Kuroko so sexy because now I want to stick him in a tower in the middle of nowhere and do **_**things**_** to him. **

**Anyway, enjoy, and please do let me know what you think! Much loved!**

* * *

Last night had been _amazing_. If there was a word in the dictionary to describe the mind-blowing sex they had, he hadn't heard of it. That had just totally made it's way up to the top of his list of _best days EVER._ Had he known that doing it with a guy could be that incredible, he'd have switched teams years ago.

The apartment complex that Kuroko lived in was a stone's throw away from the bar they had first met, and was in a nice neighbourhood. Though, Aomine hadn't really paid much attention to his surroundings, only bothering to note the name and look of the apartment so that he could find his way there again in the future.

They had been joined at the lips practically from the moment they left the vehicle, completely unmindful of their surroundings. At least now he knew that Kuroko didn't mind public displays of affection. They only broke apart for Kuroko to locate his door and open it. The second he'd unlocked the door, he had backed his way into the darkened hallway, thumbs hooked under the belt on Aomine's jeans guiding him forward to meet his lips again as he simultaneously unbuckled his belt.

They'd made it to the bed somehow; eventually.

Aomine woke to Kuroko curled into his side, an arm across his chest. He squinted at the clock on the bedside table, noting the time. Kuroko's face was buried in his shoulder, looking like a twelve year old as he snoozed. Resisting the desire to just leave the other man as he was and watch him sleep, he moved his arm deliberately to wake him up. Kuroko stirred, and sky blue eyes blinked groggily at him. His heart skipped a beat at the sleepy smile that slowly spread over Kuroko's face.

Life couldn't really get much better than this.

"G'morning," his voice was gruff from the dry air of the air conditioning.

"Morning," the word was mumbled as Kuroko shifted so that he was half sprawled over Aomine and his eyes drifted shut again. As tempting as going back to sleep was, it was a working day for both of them, and Aomine didn't want to be responsible for either of them being late.

"Don't you have school today?" He asked, the sound of his voice waking Kuroko again. The way he had to force his eyelids open made Aomine grin. Mumbling something incoherent, but definitely in protest, Kuroko shifted himself more onto Aomine until he was practically completely on top of him and buried his face in the crook of Aomine's neck. He felt like a heat beacon, the way Kuroko had plastered himself to him the whole night, face partially under the blanket as though shying away from the cold air of the air conditioning unit.

He couldn't find it in him to be irritated with the bluenette.

He pushed himself up, dislocating the other man. Kuroko flailed slightly, his eyes popping wide open as he tried to find purchase in the mattress to prevent himself falling over. He shot an annoyed look at Aomine. In return, he got a peck on the lips.

"Both of us have work," the dark haired man gave as explanation.

"Mmm," Kuroko hummed. Despite his words, Aomine had settled back against the headboard and had snaked an arm around the other's waist, tugging him closer. "You didn't come across as the type of person who would be concerned over things like that."

"My boss trained me well, he's anal about being in on time." The tan man ran a hand up Kuroko's back, and began to absentmindedly toy with his hair.

"Is that so? Come to think of it, I don't know what you do for a living," Kuroko, too, began tracing paths along Aomine's skin, as he relaxed against his side.

"I never told you?" Kuroko shook his head. "I'm a cop."

The tracing hand faltered for a moment, and Aomine noticed the sudden stiffness in the smaller man.

"That's interesting. You keep surprising me," he turned a curious smile towards Aomine. "Someone as fickle as you being part of the police force."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. It's not like there's a connection between my personal life and work."

Kuroko seemed to relax slightly at his words. "So, do you go to Kagami-kun's bar often?"

Kagami-kun? He hadn't thought that they were friends. He felt a bit irritated at the idea that the redhead had known Kuroko personally and hadn't bothered to tell him. "Every once in a while. I live around the corner, and his place has the best type of crowd."

He paused. "Uh, well, that was when I was, uh –"

"When you were sleeping with a different girl every night?" Kuroko laughed slightly at his embarrassment.

"I didn't sleep with a different girl _every_ night." He protested.

"Close enough," Kuroko shrugged nonchalantly. At least he didn't seem upset. He wasn't really sure what he was feeling. He was relieved that Kuroko didn't care about his past affairs, because he didn't like the clingy ones, but, well, _some_ jealously wouldn't be uncalled for. Kuroko leaned around Aomine to check the time. With a sigh, he pushed himself out of bed, and Aomine immediately felt the loss of his heat.

Kuroko groaned as he stood and stretched. Aomine's eyes followed the action, entranced by the flawless expanse of skin. The bluenette turned to catch him staring, and grinned. "Breakfast?"

He deliberately ignored the innuendo attached to that question. "Sure."

**xx**

Aomine felt like skipping. Breakfast had been a simple affair, eggs on toast and a cup of coffee. He'd gotten a lingering goodbye kiss and a promise for their third date. It wasn't his shortest conquest, not by a long shot, but all good things happened in due time. He stifled a wide grin. Maybe they could go see a movie tonight.

"Was it that good?" Aomine had only just toppled his things onto his desk when Midorima asked him the question. He eyeballed the other man. He didn't call him in a drunken stupor, did he?

"What?"

"Sex. With that," Emerald eyes narrowed slightly as he searched his memory for the name. "Kuroko."

"How the hell do you know that I had sex with him?" He asked, plopping into his seat. Midorima rolled his eyes at him and began listing.

"You're in casual wear, and you only come in wearing jeans when you spent the night before somewhere else. Your hair is undone, you smell of a different cologne," Aomine tried surreptitiously to take a whiff of his shirt. How the hell would the frog know what he smelled like from across their desks?

"And you were practically _skipping_." He finished. He then gave Aomine a look, daring him to contest his observations. If he could just throw something to destroy that handsome face, he'd gladly go to hell.

"So, was it that good?" Midorima repeated, leaning forward. It was unnerving when the most unaffected person in his life was taking interest in his personal affairs.

"Yeah, it was pretty spectacular." Aomine begged silently for him to let it drop at that. He even tagged on a slightly desperate _'Please'_.

"Hm. That's nice." And that was it. He huffed out a grateful breath. There was still a God.

"Hey, Midorima-san." Both men looked up to see one of the clerks standing besides their desks. "Chief's calling for you. Your serial killer's done it again."

**xx**

"Ugh," Aomine collapsed into his chair, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. "The tempo in this place changes too fast."

Midorima didn't bother to answer. They'd both gotten used to the way the calm would lead to a tornado.

Guess he wouldn't be able to go for a movie.

"Chief's right," The bespectacled man said as he studied the most recent crime scene photos. "This guy's escalating."

And just when things were getting good with Kuroko, Aomine thought glumly. He picked up the file containing the exact same photos and studied those.

"It looks like he's taking out his frustration on his earlier failure, too," he observed. "Have they cleaned up the place?"

Midorima shook his head. "No one's been to the scene yet, so they're on hold."

"Well then," Aomine stood and grabbed his coat. "Can't keep them waiting too long."

When they arrived, the chaos of onlookers and medical men had subsided, and only the policemen in charge remained. Simultaneously, both flashed their badges and were led into the apartment. They split up and studied different rooms, keeping out a keen eye for any detail that was missed in the photo reports. Just as he was leaving the bedroom, Aomine spotted it.

He moved closer, noting the patch on a display shelf that was dust free. He called Midorima in, and the two pondered over it for a while.

"A box of some sort?" Midorima was looking around the room for any hints as to what the missing object might be.

"Could be, but the dust distribution is a bit funny. It'd have had to be a box with a point protruding." It hit him suddenly, the missing item from their earlier victim. He glanced up, mouth open, to see that Midorima was about to speak, too.

"Camera," they said in unison. Aomine frowned, wondering at the significance of a camera to a serial killer. "He could have taken pictures of his victims with their own cameras?"

"The first one reported missing was a vintage camera. There's no way it'd still be functioning. It was a display item."

"And this one is on a shelf along with other odds and ends. It was probably never intended for use." Aomine mused.

Both men stared at the spot on the shelf, in a rare moment of in tuned thought.

**xx**

He'd ended up spending two consecutive nights at the office. The paperwork was piling up, and people were starting to get frantic – as they always did when news of a serial killer leaked out. No one ever really knew who leaked the info, but it had been inevitable. The pressure was mounting on them.

Aomine hadn't even bothered to fix himself any food, making a beeline for his bed as soon as the door shut behind him. That had been 8 a.m. on Sunday.

When he was fully conscious again, he'd checked his phone to see that he'd slept the day away, and that it was pushing midnight. He considered calling Kuroko. He hadn't had much time to dwell on where this relationship was progressing, nor how far he wanted it to go. Aomine was truthfully, pretty content the way things were right then.

Also, there was a psychopath out there with a fetish for cameras belonging to hot, young women that he had an obligation to catch. Tossing his phone aside, he got out of bed and then returned to it again a while later, dressed in clean clothes for the first time in three days. Seconds after his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

**xx**

Elsewhere, in an expensive Italian restaurant in a stylish part of Tokyo, a bluenette was staring into the depths of his drink, contemplating thoughts of a dark-haired policeman who was at the current point in time working on a happy relationship with his bed, as he waited for someone.

"Don't you look lonely?" Kuroko started, and glanced up with a wry grin.

"Hitting on me, Akashi-kun? I'm sure it's frowned on by society."

The redhead settled into the chair opposite Kuroko and waved a waiter over before he replied. As a menu was placed in front of him, he shot a smirk over at his companion. "Everything I do is frowned on by society."

Kuroko didn't reply, instead turning his attention to the menu in front of him and deciding what he wanted to eat. After they had placed their orders, Akashi rested his elbows on the table, connecting his fingertips and scrutinizing Kuroko over them.

"It's been a while," he finally said, satisfied with what he saw. "How have you been?"

"I've been good," the blue-haired man smiled slightly, remembering the man he had seen off at his door a few days prior. The thought warmed his chest, the way Aomine had grinned when he had promised to a third date without any prompting. "Life's gotten a bit more interesting."

"So I see," Akashi's gold and red eyes were sharp, seeming to read between the lines of his words and find something there that fascinated him. "Who is it this time?"

Before he could answer, their food arrived, and tinkering silence fell around them as they dug into the dishes in front of them. It was some time later, as he swallowed his third bite that Kuroko spoke.

"A guy," he said. Akashi paused, looking mildly interested. "A well-established Casanova. He tried his moves on me some time back."

"I'm surprised, Tetsuya." The other man put down his cutlery, focusing his full attention on the blue-haired man opposite him. "I thought you were immune to cheesy pick-up lines."

Cheesy? Kuroko chuckled slightly. That, he definitely was. "I thought I was, too. But it was the lips that spoke them that did me in."

"Attractive, then. That can't mean anything, you've dated models before." Akashi was quick to dismiss his reasoning. Kuroko was unfazed, though. Even to Akashi, he couldn't really explain what was it that drew him to the dark-haired man. It was more of an accumulation of everything.

"He could have been a model. Nicely proportioned," Kuroko said, slightly dreamy. Aomine's jeans hadn't disappointed, he was nicely muscled in all the right places, and Kuroko had spent some time just exploring the planes of his torso. His companion seemed to perk up at that.

"What does he do for a living?"

"He's a cop."

Time seemed to stop as Akashi's monochromatic eyes bore into his. He stared back, too used to his intimidation techniques to be affected.

"That's quite a coincidence," Akashi said, voice calm as though their stare-down hadn't happened. He picked up his glass and took a sip. Kuroko mirrored him, wondering if it was worth the telling off he was sure to get and order a bottle of wine.

"It is purely coincidence, Seijurou." He said, seriously. He was aware of the impact that using Akashi's first name would have on him. Mismatched eyes widened momentarily, then narrowed. Akashi toyed with the stem of his glass as he studied Kuroko.

"For his sake, I hope that it is." With that, Akashi picked up his fork and Kuroko knew that the topic would be dropped. It would rear it's head again some time in the future, but for now, both were determined to keep to their agreement to stay away from topics that were heavy and make sure to keep conversation light.

He relaxed his shoulders and followed Akashi's example, wondering if it really had been coincidence.


	8. Chapter 8

**I have this urge to bump this thing up to M, especially in the next chapter. I don't know yet if my resistance will be futile. Let me know what you think! Maybe something someone says could possess me into writing smut. =P **

**Yay, subplot! I couldn't stand the cheesiness, even though it was my own creation, so I figured that I'd kill some unimportant OCs to level it out. **

**Oh, and Akashi. Oooooh man, Akashi.**

**... That's really all I can say. He renders me speechless, he does. And I've recently been falling in love with AkaKuro. There's just something about them. Together. ghsdfisdfk. **

**Anyway, this is my longest chapter by far, but it doesn't have as many scenes as the others, so I hope you don't mind the wordiness! **

**Enjoy, and thank you all for all the looooove~**

* * *

A week later, Aomine and Midorima were parked outside an apartment complex, sometime close to midnight. It had been a while since they had gone on a stakeout together. As neither could stand the other's company for very long, their Chief had allocated rookie cops to them for training and to split them up. For once, however, both men were silent, and not in the mood for picking a fight. They stared at a brightly lit balcony on the tenth floor.

"That him?" Aomine asked, eyes fixated on the figure that had appeared. His silhouette showed a slim man of average height. Midorima made a sound of agreement.

"He shouldn't be alone…." Just as the words left his lips, another figure, this one female, walked out onto the balcony. The man turned to speak to her, and both leaned casually against the railing, presumably talking.

"What's she doing here?" The navy haired man reached behind his seat and fumbled for a pair of binoculars. He tried focusing on the couple, but with their backs turned to the light, their faces were shrouded in darkness. They didn't need visual confirmation, though. Both knew who the two on the balcony were.

"If I knew I wouldn't be here," Midorima snapped. Aomine turned to him with a frown. His partner had been on edge ever since they parked their car. "Don't you think you're taking this too far?"

Midorima shot him a measured look. "He could be planning something that would compromise you and Kuroko."

Aomine's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't."

"He's been getting more persistent asking about info about your man," Midorima shrugged. Aomine _knew_ that he was enjoying this. "You remember your twenty-first birthday?"

Aomine froze. It had been horrible. The gaudy decorations, loud, thumping trash commonly described as music, and half the people, he had never seen in his life. His place had been completely trashed that night. And the _party hat._ He felt a shiver run down his spine. His soul was scarred.

He returned to his surveillance job with renewed vigour. "This can't be good."

Grabbing the binoculars from him, Midorima watched them in silence for a while. Slowly lowering the device, Aomine could tell in the crappy streetlight that his partner was extremely pale.

"He's making a list." The horror in his voice made Aomine want to pat his back comfortingly. There were few things scarier than having the two people up on the tenth floor work together on a project. The sound of a phone ringing made both of them jump. Cursing slightly, Midorima fumbled for the device, letting more expletives slip when he saw the caller I.D.

Aomine didn't need to be a detective to figure out who it was. Hitting the button to answer and turning on the speaker, Midorima held the phone out between them. "Hello?"

"Shin-chan!" the chirpy voice of his boyfriend over the speakers made both of them cringe.

"Ah, Takao. What is it?" Aomine had to hand it to him, the frog was good at feigning disinterest. He'd gotten very good at it ever since he started dating the man.

"Are you still out with Aomine-kun?" Midorima cocked an eyebrow at him. Takao still sounded carefree, but the two men in the car have known him long enough to not fall for that guise.

"Yes. We're walking into the club right now."

"Eh~ That's strange, cause I think I'm looking at Aomine-kun's car right now."

Aomine's head whipped around and watched in mounting dismay as first Takao then Satsuki waved from the balcony on the tenth floor. He drew a line with his finger across his throat, signaling for Midorima to kill the call, or that they were dead, he wasn't sure himself.

"Yeah, we were picked up by a friend." Thank goodness his voice was still steady.

"Oh? I thought it was just the two of you. Who was it who picked you up?" Aomine stared at Midorima. Four years stuck in dire situations together gave him insight into what his partner was going to say. Without thinking, he lunged for the phone, which Midorima pulled away in the nick of time.

In the silent scuffle that ensued, they heard Takao's voice over the line, sounding slightly worried. When the phone dropped into Midorima's lap face up, quick as lightning, Aomine reached out and slammed his finger into the button, ending the call.

Breathing heavily, both men stared at each other.

"What the hell?!" Midorima burst out. "He's going to slit my throat!"

"You were going to tell him Kuroko picked us up!" Aomine accused. The flash of guilt on Midorima's face confirmed his suspicion.

"Don't feed me bullshit about your boyfriend compromising my guy when you were about to do it, too!"

"If I hadn't, we'd have been found out," Midorima snapped, green eyes flashing. "Do you realize how deep we'd be?"

"If you had told him that Kuroko was with us it would have been worse." Aomine retorted.

Making a disgusted noise, Midorima pocketed his phone. "It doesn't matter now, at any rate. At least all the banging about would make my excuse sound more acceptable."

"What excuse?" Aomine was suspicious now. He had a right to be.

"That I was walking through the dance floor and someone knocked my phone out of my hand."

Relaxing slightly, Aomine asked, sounding less hostile. "What about that friend?"

Midorima looked at Aomine thoughtfully, as he contemplated a plausible excuse.

"We'll just use the name of one of the rookies," he decided. "They rotate often, so Takao hardly ever meets them."

With that, they resumed their surveillance until the two figures had disappeared into the apartment. Waiting for a few minutes more but seeing no sign of them returning to the balcony, Aomine started the car and drove back to the station.

**xx **

There came a point in everyone's life, Aomine decided, when they wondered if their chosen profession was really the right option for them. Ever since he joined the police force as a detective, Aomine had seen his fair share of gruesome murders, and sometimes found himself thinking that everyone on the whole damn planet was either corrupted or a psychopath out to get you. He wondered sometimes, about the goodness in humans.

The latest serial killer they had been tracking was especially hard to find. He was careful not to leave traces, and all his victims, albeit related in physical description and choice of hobby, had never crossed paths in their lives.

He had all their hairdresser, spa and shopping purchases to prove it.

Groaning, he let his head fall against the back of his chair. Even his partner was looking haggard, and at Aomine's groan had removed his glasses and was massaging his eyes.

"Nothing on my side," Aomine said, eyes directed towards the ceiling. "Any luck?"

"None. There are hundreds of black Audis in this city alone, and none of the witnesses can give us a number plate. Not even a partial." Midorima replied, sounding frustrated.

"What about the guy?" Aomine asked, referring to the boyfriend of the intended fourth victim who had survived.

"He's still in ICU. The doctors aren't sure when he'll wake up."

"And the girl?"

"Was too agitated to remember much. She gave us whatever she remembered, but besides the fact that he was tall and definitely Japanese, we've got nothing else to work with."

Aomine craned his neck to the side to glance at the clock on the wall. Seven p.m. He'd be damned if he was spending Friday night looking through records he was already sure were useless.

"That's it, I'm out of here." He pushed away from his desk and stood up, stretching. There were only two other people in the office with them. And those guys were on their shift.

"You're going home, too," he said, giving Midorima a look that dared him to argue. It didn't happen. Both of them packed up and left the building. Midorima left first, with a nod. In his car, Aomine twiddled with his phone for a while, considering his options.

His bed at home was a tempting vision, but Aomine had been running on a caffeine high for so long that he knew that returning home would just mean that he would end up watching something dumb on TV. It'd been a while since he'd last hung out with girls, or at the pub where he had met Kuroko. As the bluenette crossed his mind, he made his decision. He would see if Kuroko was free, and if he wasn't, he would head over to the bar and find someone to help him relax.

The dial tone seemed to go on forever, and he'd almost concluded that Kuroko had already gone to sleep, when there was a click.

"Aomine-kun!" It startled him for a moment until he realized that Kuroko must have saved his number after the last call.

"Hey," he greeted. "Sorry I haven't called in a while. Work's been busy."

"So I heard." Aomine blinked. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the investigation. As though sensing his surprise, Kuroko continued, "On the news, I mean. I saw you in the background of one of the shots."

"Oh. So, um, I was wondering if you were free right now?" He sounded awkward. 'Um'? Really? What happened to suave, Daiki?

There was a pause on the other side of the line, and Aomine registered the sound of voices and faint music in the background. Was he at a party?

"That depends." Kuroko said after a long silence.

"On what?" If he was going to say no to sex, that was totally fine, Aomine decided. He could do that. If it was Kuroko.

"On whether you expect me to leave the bar." Aomine grinned. That was like killing two birds with one stone. They were meant for each other, they had to be.

"I'll be right there." He said, and hung up.

**xx **

Swinging by his place, he took a quick shower and then went over, feeling refreshed after what felt like a week in the office. When he walked into the bar, he immediately spotted Kuroko perched on a stool in the same corner that he had seen him in the first night. As he made his way over, he was greeted by several girls whom he had hung around with, and had had to stop a few times as he got pulled into a conversation. By the time he reached the blue-haired man, Aomine felt like he'd swam uphill against a river current. He sat on the vacant stool next to Kuroko, eyeing the half empty glass in his hands.

"Isn't it a bit early to be drinking?"

As though in defiance, Kuroko lifted the glass and took a big gulp of the liquid before he answered. "Last I checked, I wasn't dating my mother."

Something fluttered in his chest at the word 'dating'. They were _dating._ He didn't pause to consider just how strange it was that he was happy over the thought of dating someone. "Just looking out for your well-being."

The pale man snorted, tossing him a look. "That's a pretty good disguise, mom."

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up." Aomine backed off. The smaller man seemed to be more snarkish than usual.

"Oh hey, look what the cat dragged in." Dark eyes looked up into the bartender's smirking face. "Found a new toy, have you?"

Aomine blinked. The words had been directed at Kuroko, who in reply, only took another sip of his drink.

"What can I get you?" This time Kagami's words were intended for Aomine.

"The usual." With a nod, Kagami turned away. Aomine shifted his attention to Kuroko.

"Do you come here often?" Kuroko shrugged.

"Kagami-kun's a friend, so I come over to keep him company sometimes. I'm here mostly on Monday nights, though."

That explained why he had never seen Kuroko before. The station was busiest during the first half of the week as most crimes committed during weekends were reported only once office hours started again.

"Aomine-kun!" The said man turned to find a group of girls floating close by, tossing narrowed glances between the pair of them. "It's been so long since you last came, it's mean of you to just come and sit in the corner here."

He threw a desperate glance at Kuroko. The man didn't seem the least bit bothered. Catching his eye, Kuroko waved dismissively.

"Go, go," he shooed. "I'm fascinated by your Don Juan moves. Great study material."

Aomine shot Kuroko a betrayed look, fishing for an excuse when one girl piped up. "You should come join us, too. Aomine-kun's friend is our friend!"

Only if they're that attractive, the dark-haired man thought wryly. Kuroko was dressed in simple garb, skin tight jeans, and a long-sleeved shirt. It was hardly fair that he looked so much better than all the heavily made up girls in the bar. The smile that Kuroko directed at the girls widened the gap a bit more.

"I'm sure you beautiful ladies would like his attention all to yourselves for as long as you can have it," he said pleasantly. "I'll be taking him home later, so you should make use of this opportunity."

The silence that followed that was partly induced by the realization that Kuroko was the reason that Aomine had been absent for so long, and partly by the dazzling smile that seemed to soften the blow of his words. Aomine looked slightly confused as he was carted off by the girls. He was taking him home?

"Is it really okay to let your date be taken away like that?" Kagami appeared with Aomine's drink a bit belatedly. He pushed it over to a waitress that was walking past and signaled for her to send it to Aomine.

Kuroko hummed into his drink. "If he feels guilty, I can get him to do anything I want. Plus, it's nice having the hottest man in here giving off blatant vibes that he'd rather be with me in my corner."

Kagami shook his head at his friend. "You're twisted."

"Aww," Kuroko crooned, "Is Kagami-kun jealous? Don't worry, you're a close second. Did I ever tell you that your hair looks gorgeous in this light?"

"Hitting on me so he'd get jealous?" The redhead raised an eyebrow. He was well used to Kuroko's flirting, and he was only this outrageous when he had imbibed a substantial amount of alcohol.

"I figured that if it didn't work out with him, I'd at least have someone to keep my bed warm. It always helps to have contingency plans." Kuroko said, something close to a smirk playing about his lips.

"Is it alright for him to see you this drunk?" Kagami eyed the glass that was practically empty. He'd refuse him if he asked for another. Kuroko knew that, which was why he drank at Kagami's bar often. It was useful to have a friend who remained sober the whole night. That, and the discount on drinks he got was a huge plus point.

Kuroko laughed, the sound different from his usually soft chuckle. It sounded much too carefree.

"I imagine not. But hey, no great mistake was ever made by a sober man." He raised his glass in mock salute and downed the remains of his drink. "Besides, I'm not that drunk yet. When I get up on the tables, you can toss me in a cold bath."

"You're interesting when you're drunk." Kagami plucked the empty glass out of Kuroko's unresisting hand and replaced it with a full glass of water. "If you get up on the tables, I'll record it and put it on Youtube for you to see when you're sober."

And that, Kuroko thought with a small smile as Kagami walked off, was why they had remained friends for so long.

"Hey," Kuroko didn't look up at the foreign voice. Flatly, he said, "I'm not interested."

"Aw, c'mon. Loosen up a bit."

Kuroko laughed, the sound distinctively derisive. "That's funny, 'cause someone just told me to that I'm too loose."

"Yeah? Then let's have some fun."

It wasn't like he had kept his eye on Kuroko the whole time he was away. He just happened to find the wall behind him extremely fascinating. He saw the way the blue-eyed man laughed with Kagami, and the way they conversed, it was obvious the two were close.

Aomine had perked up when the other man approached Kuroko. If he had been glancing around the bar like he usually did, Aomine would have noted the stranger who had, up until that moment, been seated at the other end of the long bar, watching Kuroko as he had been.

Deciding that he had spent enough time entertaining the mindless chatter and endless stream of questions, Aomine made his excuses and pushed through the crowd towards Kuroko. It was starting to feel like déjà vu. As he got closer to them, he was able to catch their conversation.

"I said I'm not interested." Aomine was impressed when Kuroko gave the man a once over that would have embarrassed even him. "I'll _never_ be interested."

"Why, you –" Still blocked by a few bodies, Aomine could only watch in awe as Kuroko easily caught the hand that was aimed at his face. His eyes were cold, and even though the glare wasn't intended for him, Aomine felt a chill run down his spine. He almost felt sorry for the idiot that was now standing there frozen.

"Getting so worked up over a refusal is extremely unattractive. So is jumping to conclusions. And that annoying persistence of yours will not endear yourself to anyone. As you haven't got any looks to help you along in life, I suggest you work on your personality, because there may be some kind soul out there who would fall for an ugly man with a good heart. If you still insist on this fight, let me first tell you that I have a black belt, and I am not liable for anything that happens to you after this. Oh, and that guy behind you is a cop. A bar brawl isn't something worth getting tossed in a cell for the night for, don't you think?"

There was complete silence in the immediate vicinity around them. The man stared at Kuroko dazedly for a while then yanked his hand away and stormed off. After he walked out, the tense atmosphere dissipated, and the usual chatter started up again. Aomine stood beside Kuroko, trying to process what had just happened. That was more than he'd ever heard from Kuroko in one conversation.

"I feel rather useless right now," he said with an embarrassed laugh. "You handled that fine without me."

"He was an illiterate drunk," Kuroko replied with a shrug. "Talk long and fast enough, they get confused and walk off."

"Really? It wasn't because of your black belt?" Aomine was only half teasing. Kuroko had been surprising him from the get-go. "Was that true?"

"Certainly. In fact, I'm wearing it right now," the bluenette lifted the hem of his shirt. "Gucci. Not exactly to my taste, but it was a gift from a friend."

Aomine burst out in laughter. He never disappointed.

"What about that way you grabbed his hand?" It would have taken most people by surprise. Kuroko took a gulp of his drink, making a face.

"I work in a kindergarten. You tend to find flying projectiles headed towards you."

Aomine had seated himself on the stool, and was watching Kuroko, chin on his fist.

"You're talking an awful lot more than usual," he observed. Not that he was complaining.

"That's because I'm drunk."

Dark eyes looked at him, skeptical. "I thought you didn't get drunk."

"I just let you believe that. That time was just one drink."

"And this is…?"

Kuroko frowned at his glass, his pout adorable.

"This is water, but I think Kagami-kun stopped me after my fifth…?" He trailed off, looking like he was thinking hard. "I don't know, you don't trust a drunk's maths. From experience, I can say it is pretty inaccurate."

"You're fascinating," Extremely fascinating. Aomine could almost literally feel himself falling harder for the man.

"Thank you, I know." The tan man chuckled. He was definitely going to try getting Kuroko drunk again sometime soon.

"Are you planning on a sixth?"

Blue eyes searched his for the longest time. Aomine stared right back. His eyes were sharp and clear. He didn't look the least bit drunk.

"Not unless you're taking me home right now."


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry for the delayed update! Our electricity was wonky, and it died for a while, so I didn't have internet. Or hot showers. Oh, the agony. **

**About the stake-out scene in Chapter 8, they were basically spying on Midorima's boyfriend, and the conversation was about him planning a party. I can imagine the parties that Takao plans to be absolutely insane. Throw Momoi into the mix, and it's no wonder the two detectives were so fearful. I shall expand more in later chapters, so if you're still confused, don't worry. I wrote it sort of with that intention.**

**So! drunk!Kuroko. Ahahahaha he was so much fun to write. The sexiness, just ugh. I want to be Aomine here. **

**As you can tell, I'm not bumping this up to M yet. I've got that planned out for later, if I don't decide to make any more changes to the story.**

**Yay, Bree! I'm so touched you made an account just to favourite and follow this! I wub you. ;-;**

**To Infinitecity : ~.^v Ask and you shall receive.**

**Aaaand to everyone else who favourited, followed, and reviewed this, I love you all too! Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

* * *

A drunk Tetsu, Aomine soon discovered, was a whole 'nother type of Tetsu.

Although skeptical at first, the tan man quickly realized that Kuroko had not been lying. There were noticeable differences. Kuroko was a lot more flirty, and _very_ much more bold, as was obvious by the way that he had tugged Aomine against him when they reached his car, leaning back onto the side of the vehicle and doing things with his tongue that were inappropriate for public places. Oh hindsight, leaning into the kiss was probably the least feasible option he could have taken, but the second the smaller man's pale lips touched his, his brain had screeched to a halt and was only capable of revolving around the taste and feel of the man pressed against him.

Aomine had to force himself to pull away, and when his eyes caught the motion of Kuroko's tongue darting out to lick his lips, he nearly forgot that they were in a public parking lot in the middle of a commercial area. With a growing sense of urgency, he ushered Kuroko into the car, and very nearly broke several traffic laws on the way to Kuroko's place. At least it was closer than his own apartment. He pulled into the basement carpark, glad that there weren't people around to watch them bump their way up to the apartment like before.

As soon as the engine turned off, Kuroko had fisted his hand into the collar of Aomine's shirt and rather forcefully pulled him across the armrest, continuing the sense-murdering kiss. Again, he didn't put up much a fight, letting the kiss taper off naturally this time, as both of them ran out of oxygen. Their eyes were locked, breaths short and hard, and the air thick with tension.

Kuroko moved, repositioning himself so that he was pushed up higher with a leg on the seat, and wrapped slim arms around Aomine's shoulders. Leaning forward, he planted a soft kiss, almost fluttery, on Aomine's lips, and proceeded to nibble a slow path along his jaw. He slipped a hand down Aomine's chest, tracing the outline of his abs through the cloth.

Aomine was at a bit of a loss. Their first time together, Kuroko hadn't been this assertive. He knew what he wanted, but had let Aomine take the wheel. It wasn't like he was complaining, though. Wrapping an arm around Kuroko's hips, he slid his free hand up his back, under his shirt. His fingers were cold from the air conditioning unit in the car, and as his fingertips made contact with the warm skin of Kuroko's lower back he felt a shiver run through the smaller man.

Tracing circles into the dip of the base of his spine, Aomine let his eyes slide shut as he relished in the feel of Kuroko's exploring lips up to the back of his jaw and over his cheek, back to his mouth.

"Shouldn't we be doing this upstairs?" He asked, in between kisses.

"Too far," came the mumbled reply. "Want you now."

Aomine swallowed hard. His jeans felt a lot tighter all of a sudden. As appealing as the thought of ravaging Kuroko in his car was, it was a Friday night, and he wasn't going to settle with just once. Oh, and Kuroko was drunk. If he decided to fall asleep on him, he didn't want to have to trudge up to the apartment carrying an unconscious man. Planting his hands firmly on Kuroko's hips, he valiantly tried to ignore the feeling of butterfly kisses being traced down the column of his neck.

"We should really go upstairs." There was a response murmured into the curve of his shoulder. "What was that?"

"I said, I should have gotten you drunk." This time, Kuroko leaned back to frown at him. His heartbeat increased slightly at the look on Kuroko's face. Aomine _was_ drunk. He was completely intoxicated by the blue-eyed man. "I don't remember you being so uptight."

"That's probably because you're drunk," Aomine pointed out. He didn't enjoy being the responsible adult, but with the default choice out of commission, he hadn't any other option. "Besides, half of the things I want to do with you, I can't do in a cramped car."

That made the other man pause, the look on his face as he considered his words making Aomine wish he could take back what he said.

"Fine," he decided, turning around and climbing out of the car, leaving Aomine staring blankly at the spot where Kuroko's face had just been. He leaned down to peer at Aomine. "Aren't you coming?"

**xx**

When Aomine woke up, it took him a second to recall where he was. Rolling over with a groan, he looked at the clock on the bedside table. Eleven-twenty. It wasn't much sleep, considering that they had stayed awake until the early hours of the morning. That, coupled with the strain of overtime at the office had resulted in him being completely knocked out until then. Glancing around, he noted that he was alone, and that the sun was trying hard to spear its beams into the room through heavy curtains. He sat up, for the first time properly taking in Kuroko's bedroom. It was large, able to accommodate a king size bed, a walk-in wardrobe, and a window that took up a whole wall by itself.

Leveraging himself off the bed, he searched for the overnight bag that he had brought up the night before. He kept it in his car for emergencies, and if he had to go on a stakeout, though he found that its most frequent use was for situations like his current. Finding it, he took out his towel and toothbrush and left the room. The bathroom was located at the end of the hallway, after the kitchen. As he walked past the kitchen, he heard more than saw, food being prepared.

As he stood under the shower, he tried to remember what he could of Kuroko's apartment. It was big, much bigger than his own. There was a feeling that nagged at him at the thought. The apartment should be out of the budget of a kindergarten teacher.

Securing a towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom, pausing in front of the kitchen as the smells wafted over to him and reminded him that it had been too many hours since his last meal. Padding in silently, he put a hand on either side of the counter, trapping Kuroko in front of him. He leaned into him, easily settling his chin atop the other's head.

"What's for breakfast?" He asked, pleased at the startled jolt when he had appeared.

Swatting at his face, Kuroko said, "I wasn't sure what time you'd wake up, so I skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch."

Aomine hummed, catching sight of a variety of dishes already set out on the dining table. "Am I supposed to eat all of that?"

"Not if you don't want to. I get really hungry after I drink a lot, so I may have gone a bit overboard."

"Oh yeah, aren't you hungover or something?" Aomine questioned. It should be impossible for a person to drink five rounds of Kuroko's favourite concoction and not have a hangover.

"Kinda," he replied, stirring a pot of curry. "My type of hangover is translated into hunger. I don't get headaches and stuff, but my stomach feels like it's consuming itself."

That, Aomine decided, was extremely unfair. Not only was he beyond attractive, able to hold his alcohol, and cook; he didn't get hangovers. And he could eat like a champ.

"Where have you been all my life," the taller man murmured wryly. Kuroko turned questioning eyes to him, which drooped slightly as Aomine caught his lips in a heated kiss. As he pulled away, he grinned at the amused look on Kuroko's face.

"Didn't you just come out of the shower?"

"I don't mind another. Especially if you're in it, too." He murmured against Kuroko's ear, having discovered the night before that the other man was very sensitive there. He felt a sense of victory as Kuroko's breath hitched. Hands on petite hips, he spun Kuroko around in his arms, the boiling pot of curry completely forgotten by both of them.

They kissed, slow and languorous, the urgency of the night before no longer present. Just as things were starting to heat up, the shrill cry of the doorbell made them jump apart.

With a cry, Kuroko turned hastily to the bubbling pot on the stove. "My curry!"

Quickly, he picked up the ladle and started stirring the orange mass, before switching to another pan that had some vegetables in it and began tossing it like a pro. Aomine watched, taken aback. Wasn't there a person at the door?

"Shall I get the door?" He asked hesitantly. Obviously distracted, Kuroko nodded and with a wave, basically dismissed him. Aomine walked into the living room, feeling an unreasonable irritation at the person who was disturbing them. And things had just started rolling down the hill at a steady pace. Someone had better be dying, he fumed.

Yanking the door open with slightly more force than was necessary, he belatedly remembered that he was dressed in nothing but a towel when he was met with shocked topaz eyes that stared at him. Aomine stared right back. Those eyes looked familiar. Although, the face that they were set in had been distinctively smaller, and much further down his line of sight.

"Did I get the wrong door again?" there was an embarrassed laugh. The man that stood in front of him was blonde, well-built, and so gorgeous it was ridiculous.

Snapping out of his stupor, Aomine crossed his arms, intending the unfriendly vibe he gave off. If the blonde guy was at the right door, that would mean he was here to see Kuroko. And as there were no signs of a blood relation between them, that would only mean one thing; competition.

"That depends on who you're looking for." He retorted, voice gruff.

Blondie had opened his mouth to reply when from inside, both heard Kuroko call out, "Who is it?"

"Ah, Kurokocchi! Thank goodness~ I was at the right place after all!" With a relieved laugh, the man leaned around Aomine, giving him no choice but to allow him past. Even though he might be competition, Aomine could appreciate an attractive person when he saw one. It might have something to do with the fact that he was officially dating a man, but the tan man had been noticing that there were a lot of good-looking guys around. Especially around Kuroko. Take that damn redhead at the bar for example.

The semi-dressed man walked into the kitchen after Blondie, who looked like he was made of helium, the way he was bouncing on his heels. The image of an energizer bunny briefly flashed through Aomine's mind, and he looked away to hide the grin that threatened to split his face in half.

"Whatcha doing?" the man was asking Kuroko, even though it was obvious what he was doing. Kuroko responded with a deadpan look.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Cooking for half the homeless in Tokyo?"

Kuroko tossed him a glare. "I'd throw something at you but it's not worth the damage to my crockery."

"Awww," topaz eyes blinked at him tearfully. "That's too mean~"

Did he really have to say everything in that sing-song voice? Aomine left to go put on clothing. Who knew if someone else would decide to waltz in after Blondie. When he returned, they were still talking about the food.

"Is this all really just for you?" Blondie was asking, inspecting the dishes spread out on the table as Kuroko paid attention to the food on the stove.

"No, some of it is for Aomine-kun." Kuroko replied, and looked up suddenly to give the other man a bland look. "And no, you're not invited."

The amount of satisfaction Aomine got from that reaction was ludicrous. Laughing, Blondie reached over to ruffle Kuroko's hair, banishing the sense of satisfaction and replacing it with annoyance.

"I figured you would say that," the man said, oblivious to the murderous glare Aomine was directing at the back of his head. "But I really came over because I need a huge favour."

At that, Kuroko paused and turned around, finally noticing Aomine's presence. "Oh, Aomine-kun."

The blonde man turned too,

"Aominecchi!" He greeted. I am not your friend, Aomine felt like telling him. I want to punch you in the face. That's not what friends do to friends. Instead, he nodded.

"That's right, you don't know each other. Aomine-kun, this is Kise Ryouta. He's a friend of mine, and an annoying pest."

"Hey! You didn't need to add that last part!"

Kise Ryouta? Aomine had heard that name before, he was sure of it. And those topaz eyes were hard to misplace, given that almost everyone in Japan had black or brown eyes. Suddenly, the memory hit him.

"Kise Ryouta, that model?" He asked. Kise beamed at him, chest expanding with pride at the recognition. "Satsuki was telling me about doing a photoshoot with you."

"Eh, Satsuki?" he looked confused for a moment before snapping his fingers. "You mean Momoicchi?"

Why the hell are you tagging on 'cchi' onto everyone's name? Aomine asked silently. You're an adult, not a middle schooler!

"Yeah," he replied with a nod. Kise's eyes widened suddenly, as though he had just recalled something.

"I remember now! You must be that hot friend she was telling me about!" He exclaimed, a bit too excitedly. Aomine didn't want to ask. Usually if Satsuki told anybody about him, it would be only of the horrible things.

"She told me you were hot, but maaaaaan," he said, giving Aomine a once over that made him uncomfortable because Kuroko was standing _right there._ With a disappointed huff, Kise turned to Kuroko. "How is it that you always manage to find all the hot ones?"

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. "I googled him up."

Aomine and Kise burst out laughing at the expressionless way he said it. Straightening, Kise wiped away a tear, still chuckling slightly.

"What did you come here for?" Kuroko asked, straightforward. Aomine walked over to the sink and grabbed a cup. He hadn't had anything to drink since the night before and he was thirsty. Filling it up, he leaned a hip against the counter as he watched the two interact.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! My manager got into an accident last ni – are you okay?" Kise and Kuroko turned worried eyes towards Aomine who was coughing violently into his cup. Nodding, he cleared his throat a couple of times and decided that until he found out that the manager wasn't dead, he shouldn't be swallowing anything.

"Anyway, he got hospitalized, and I need to take a train down to see him." Kise continued.

"A train? Where was he when it happened?" Kuroko asked with a frown.

"Hokkaido. He was there for a meeting and was supposed to come back this morning."

"That's unfortunate," the blue-eyed man remarked. Finally deeming the curry done, he turned off the stove. Before he could lift the pot off the stove, Aomine did it for him, placing it in the middle of the table. Kuroko shot him a grateful smile as he turned his attention back to Kise to see the latter watching them with a faintly wistful smile.

"Yeah, so." He quipped, smile disappearing as soon as Kuroko looked at him. "I need someone to help me take care of Ryouko."

Please let it be a dog, Aomine prayed. Regardless of the fact that naming a dog Ryouko would be beyond weird, he didn't want to be stuck taking care of a baby. He could go home, of course, but he knew without a doubt that even if they were taking care of a baby, where Kuroko was, he was going to be. Sighing, he resigned himself to his fate.

"I don't know," Kuroko mused. He shot a glance at Aomine, who in return, shrugged noncommittally. "I guess I don't have a choice if you've got no one else to ask."

"Thank youuu!" Kise threw himself at Kuroko, knocking him back into the counter with a bear hug. "I'll pay you back any way you want! A year's worth of vanilla milkshakes, anything!"

"Okay, okay," the blue-haired man huffed. Kise was heavy, and much bigger than himself. He was completely enveloped in the hug. Patting him on his back, he breathed easier when Kise loosened his grip.

"Where is she now?"

"I left her sleeping in the car. She couldn't sleep last night because of nightmares. I'll go get her right now!" With that, Kise bounded out of the apartment, leaving the two men in silence. Aomine was concerned. If the kid was anything like Kise, then he had just signed himself up for a hell of a time.

**xx**

To an outsider, it was a comical sight. A tall, dark, handsome man, staring, baffled, at a child little taller than his knees, who was returning the stare with as much wonder.

In fact, to the two adults that were with them, it was a rather funny sight, too.

"Sunshine?" Aomine blurted out without thinking. He _knew_ that he had seen those topaz eyes somewhere.

"Basketball uncle?" She said, looking equally dazed. Something clicked, and Aomine's glassy eyes turned sharp.

"I'm not an uncle," he snapped.

"Ehh~ but you look so old." He could see the resemblance now.

"I'm the same age as your sensei." He griped. Maybe he should start using some of those products that Satsuki had been gifting him for the past few birthdays.

"No way! Sensei looks waaaaay younger than you!"

He briefly wondered if it was child abuse if he 'accidentally' locked her out of the apartment. He was about to retort when Kuroko intervened.

"It's nice that you both know each other. I'm sure you'll get along fine, don't you think, Aomine-kun?" he said pleasantly.

Not fooled by the courteous way Kuroko was speaking, as too many years spent at the side of a woman model had honed his skills at detecting underlying currents in a voice, Aomine nodded meekly.

"Well then, I'm off! Make sure you behave yourself while you're staying with sensei!" Kise bent down and pecked her lightly on the forehead. Ruffling her hair slightly, he straightened and bowed slightly to the waiting pair.

"I'm sorry for taking up your day like this. I promise I'll make it up to you both!"

You'd better, Aomine thought irritably as Kise bounded off with a cheery wave.

He looked down to see the kid clutching Kuroko's hand, the look on her face mournful as she watched Kise step into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, though, she brightened up.

"Ne, ne, sensei," she chirped, tugging unnecessarily on his hand. "Can I watch TV? My favourite cartoon is starting soon."

"Sure, Ryouko-chan. You go on ahead."

Bouncing in a way that was reminiscent of the man that had just left, she made her way into the living room and plopped herself smack in front of the TV. Aomine made to follow her into the apartment, but was stopped by the fingers that curled around his wrist. Turning a quizzical look to Kuroko, he was surprised as the bluenette leaned up and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"I'm sorry about this," he said, eyes searching Aomine's. Almost as though he expected him to be angry. As if he could be angry with Tetsu.

"Can't be helped," he replied with a shrug. It would be fine, so long as Kuroko was there.

"When she's gone, I'll make it up to you," Kuroko's eyes glinted wickedly. There was no way of misinterpreting that message.

Returning the look with a mischievous grin, he pulled Kuroko in for a quick kiss. "I'll hold you to that."


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay! I am so happy that I finished this. I kept getting distracted and I couldn't get that AkaKuro oneshot I did out of my mind, so I'm just immensely relieved that it's over. **

**Thank you for all the love and support for this! It's turning out different from what I had first envisioned, but it's going good, don'tchu think?**

**Anyway, no lengthy rant, just thank you again for all the favourites, follows, and reviews! You guys keep me going. **

**Enjoy, and let me know what you think! **

* * *

"Kuroko-sensei said that Aomine-san is a cop."

Aomine glanced down at the pair of curious eyes in the chair next to his, burger hovering an inch from his mouth. "Yes, yes I am."

She hummed, disappointed frown settling adorably on her face. "So you're not a pro basketball player?"

He let out a choked laugh, barely managing to swallow the bite he had taken. With a shake of his head he replied, "Nope."

"Why not?"

"Hm," he hummed thoughtfully. He had offers when he was in high school, even going to college on a basketball scholarship. But the appeal of having a license to shoot guns and driving a blaring police car through congested traffic had reeled him in. Of course, he didn't really drive through traffic with the sirens blaring. But he enjoyed himself immensely when he got the chance. "Because I want to protect people."

They were currently in a fast food chain in one of the large malls near Kuroko's apartment. Aomine had discovered soon enough that babysitting a child involved more than letting them have full reign of the TV remote. Apparently, news of a meteor striking a city wasn't of much interest to a six year old.

Hence, they had left the apartment after a very hefty lunch and had walked through the mall so many times that Aomine had it's blueprint imprinted onto his brain. Two hours after they had arrived, Aomine's stomach growling had garnered him a raised eyebrow from Kuroko and an announcement from Ryouko that she, too, wanted food. As was standard procedure when there was a child in the party – because they obviously needed more sugar in their bloodstream – they had drifted to the nearest fast food joint, which also happened to be the one that sold Kuroko's favourite vanilla shakes.

"Onii-chan had a girlfriend once who was a cop, too," Ryouko was saying in response to his statement. One had to admire a child's ability to keep conversation flowing.

"Oh, really?" He asked, not particularly interested. Kuroko sat opposite them, engrossed with his phone as he sipped sporadically on his milkshake.

"Yeah! He even got into trouble once with her!" she said, suddenly excited about relaying the story. Finishing his burger, he scrunched up the wrapper and supported his cheek with his fist as he turned fully towards the girl.

"What did he do?"

Shrugging, Ryouko said, "I don't know. I just heard them one night when I was getting a drink of water."

Aomine hummed to show he was paying attention as he watched Kuroko by turning his head slightly. That look of concentration on his face was impossibly endearing. Ryouko kept on talking, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't really listening. At that moment, Kuroko glanced up, catching Aomine's eyes on him. The corner of his lips twitched to reveal a small smile, and he nodded his head towards the child beside Aomine to indicate that he should be paying attention to her. Doing as he had been wordlessly told, Aomine pulled his drink towards him and began drinking.

"So when I was coming up the stairs, the knocking sounds were gone, but when I stopped to listen and see if they were still awake, I heard Onii-chan saying that he was sorry, and then Onee-chan was scolding him, telling him that he'd been a bad boy, and – "

It felt like all eyes were turned towards the trio as Aomine spluttered and choked on his drink, coughing viciously. Kuroko got up from his seat and stood behind him, thumping him hard on the back. Gasping desperately for air, Aomine buried his face in his forearm, feeling embarrassed on Kise's behalf, and unable to stop the tirade of laughter.

When his laughter had died down and he was breathing normally again, Kuroko returned to his chair with the widest grin Aomine had ever seen on his lips.

**xx**

"Aren't you done looking at all the things yet?" Aomine was beat. The occasional shopping trip with Satsuki hadn't prepared him for a whole day with a kindergartener. He had to hand it to Kuroko, he seemed to be handling all the walking much better than he was.

"Ehhh, but I still haven't seen any nice clothes for my Barbie dolls!" she whined. The bundle of joy had used Kuroko's phone to call up her brother and ask if she could be allowed to buy some new outfits for her favourite dolls.

"Well, you just might find them if we weren't looking through the babies' section," Aomine answered drily. She seemed to think that Barbie dolls wore the same kind of clothes babies did. He was pretty sure there wouldn't be a future in fashion design for the child.

"There should be a toy store around here somewhere. I remember passing it earlier," Kuroko interjected before things could escalate. "I'm sure they'll have the right sized clothes there."

"Okay!" Ryouko chirped, grabbing hold of Kuroko's hand. Aomine felt a brief flash of annoyance. It was absurd that he was getting jealous of a six year old.

As they made their way towards the toy store, Kuroko exclaimed suddenly, and turned to look at some expensive looking cooking utensils in the display of one of the shops. Aomine stopped in his tracks and leaned around him, sharp eyes immediately going to the hefty price tag attached to one huge frying pan.

"Don't you already have one of those?" Aomine ventured, as Kuroko just stood there marveling at the items. The navy-haired man was someone who did not comprehend the need for more than one of anything.

"I do, but it's about to give soon, and I want to get a replacement before it goes to the dogs," came the muttered reply. When he glanced at the price, he heaved a sigh. "Maybe I'll get it next week."

Evidently reluctant, the blue-haired man turned away from the window, eyes widening as he registered that there was no longer a toddler attached to his hand. Looking around urgently, he called out her name, but received no reply.

Frantic eyes turned to Aomine, who had begun scanning the crowd when he, too, had noticed her absence.

"I'll go left, you head towards the toy store and see if you catch her," he said, taking charge. "We'll call if we find her."

With a nod, Kuroko turned right, and began walking, head swiveling left and right as he tried to take in as much of the crowd as he could. Stepping the other direction, Aomine used his height to his advantage as he cast his eyes around for a shock of dirty blonde hair. He moved slowly, pausing every time he thought he saw a small body walk by. He was walking past a sporting goods store when he had a gut feeling that told him to go check it out more thoroughly.

Wading through the crowd, he was about to step foot into the shop when he saw her. She was standing next to a potted plant in front of the store's window, staring at something, completely absorbed. He halted next to her, raising an eyebrow as his presence garnered no reaction from the kid. Curious, he looked in the window, eyes searching for what it was that was so fascinating to her. He paused as the bright colour of the basketball caught his eye.

He glanced down at the girl again, and pulled out his phone. Seconds later, Kuroko answered.

"I found her. We're at the store selling sports stuff. We'll meet you at the toy store in a bit." He said into the phone, the sound of his voice finally breaking the spell and prompting the child to look up at him, guilty eyes showing that she knew that she was in trouble. Silently, he held out a hand and waited for her to take hold of it tentatively. Turning on his heels, he led her into the store.

Immediately, there was a sales assistant at his side. Aomine never had any problems getting service. The girl smiled dreamily at him, as some of her colleagues who had not been as quick as her watched on enviously.

"Welcome!" She greeted him brightly. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if you sold basketballs for children." She frowned at his words, for the first time, noticing the small child attached to his hand. He saw the disappointment flash briefly in her eyes as she tried to surreptitiously glance at his left hand.

"Of course we do," she replied, without missing a beat. "It's in the children's corner."

With that, she guided them to the section for children. Ryouko was silent, glancing around in wonder at all the miniature sized sporting equipment.

"Oh dear." Even though he didn't frequent shopping malls much, he knew what that phrase meant. "It seems like we're out of them right now."

Ryouko looked heartbroken, eyes downcast, the hand in his curling slightly tighter.

"Are you sure?" He asked, heart contracting at the sight of the disappointed kid.

Giving him an apologetic smile, the sales assistant said, "We usually don't keep any extra stock in the back. They're all out here."

"D'you think you could just check for me?" He asked, flashing a blinding smile. Somewhat dazedly, she nodded, and teetered off to check.

"Does Aomine-san have kids?" Ryouko suddenly piped up from below his waist. He looked at her, startled by the question.

"No, I'm not married."

"Oh." She responded, scrunching up her face in thought. "Are you gonna marry Kuroko-sensei?"

This kid, Aomine decided, was amazing.

"What makes you ask that?" He asked in return, avoiding the question.

"'Cause you look at him like Papa looks at Mama."

Aomine was silent for a while. Thoughts ran through his mind, as he fished for a suitable answer to explain their situation to a six year old.

"You're in luck today, sir!" Aomine started as the sales assistant reappeared beside him. Relieved that there was a distraction, he took the small basketball that she held out for him. "I found that behind some boxes. It's a good thing I checked!"

"Thank you," he said sincerely, smiling his most dashing smile at her.

"N-Not at all," she stammered, blinking the stars out of her vision. "Shall I ring that up for you?"

**xx**

Kuroko paced anxiously in front of the toy store. He'd been waiting for some time now, and there was still no word from Aomine. He had pulled out his phone to call the other man when he heard Ryouko's voice.

"Sensei, sensei!" She bounded up to him excitedly, bouncing on the spot. "Look at what Aomine-san bought for me!"

Kuroko blinked at the miniature basketball that she had thrust out at him, her tiny hands fitting around it a lot better than they did the adult-sized ball.

"That's… nice," he replied hesitantly, throwing a querying look up at Aomine. Shrugging, he answered the silent question, "The one you have at the kindergarten is way too big. If they're gonna go pro they need to be able to learn the moves properly."

"Aomine-san says he'll come to school and teach us how to do tricks," Ryouko added, proudly. Aomine grinned at the weary head shake Kuroko directed at him.

"I hope that's really all there is to it," Kuroko said, voice low so that Ryouko wouldn't hear him. Even if he had spoken at full volume, Aomine doubted she would have noticed. The kid was bouncing the ball experimentally, radiating so much happiness, he couldn't help but smile.

"But of course," Aomine gave Kuroko an innocent look. "What else could it possibly be for?"

Laughing, Kuroko elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

"Do you still want to look for clothes for your dolls?" He directed at the elated child. She stopped playing with the ball, staring briefly at the entrance to the toy store behind Kuroko.

"Nah," she decided with a shake of her head. "I'd rather play with my new basketball."

"What have you done to her," Kuroko asked wryly as they walked away from the toy store in the direction of the parking lot. "I'm not sure how Kise-kun will take this."

"He should thank me," Aomine retorted. "I've just saved him a few hundred thousand yen on clothes for toys."

Kuroko shot him that strange smile that did things to his insides, and linked their hands together. Aomine looked at him, eyebrow raised in askance.

"I don't mind it if it's you." Kuroko said, squeezing his hand lightly and unintentionally spiking Aomine's heart rate.

**xx**

Dark eyes slid shut in bliss as he rolled onto the bed with a heartfelt groan.

Finally, the day was over. Kise was still in Hokkaido, so Ryouko's parents had dropped by to pick her up after the rush hour. To occupy the time, Kuroko and Aomine had taken the child to a nearby park, and Aomine had showed her a few basketball moves that she mastered within a few tries. He was impressed at how she seemed to absorb everything up like a sponge.

"I don't know how you do it," he moaned, words muffled by the pillow he had buried his face in.

"It takes a lot of resilience in the beginning, but after a while your body gets used to it," Kuroko replied from across the room. He paused as he turned away from the window and watched the dark-haired man amusedly.

"I thought cops had great stamina." The teasing was evident in his voice. With a grunt, Aomine rolled over, feeling like that was the last burst of energy he could force out of his body.

"I thought so too, until I met Sunshine." He said, drolly. "You deserve a medal."

The bed dipped under his weight as Kuroko crawled across from the other side until his face was hovering over Aomine's.

"Feel like a shower?" Blue-eyes glinted at him. "I'll wash your back for you."

Suddenly, he didn't feel so exhausted any more.

**xx**

Aomine dreamt that his phone was ringing. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't locate it.

Eyes snapping open, the sound of his ringtone became much clearer through the dense fog of sleep, and he groped the bedside table unseeingly until his fingers found the familiar contours of his mobile device.

"Yes?" He said into the phone, not bothering with pleasantries. The screen had been too bright for him to be willing to try to see the number flashing on it.

"Still asleep?" Midorima's voice was derisive over the phone. "And here I am, doing my asshole of a partner's work for him."

"What d'you want?" He asked with a yawn, pushing himself up on his elbow. A glance at the bedside clock told him that it was ten minutes to noon.

"Our guy's gone and done it again. Bad news, though. Chief wants us at the crime scene asap."

"Ugh," he sat up completely, dislocating the pale arm that had been wrapped over his stomach. "I'll be there in twenty."

Ending the call, he looked at Kuroko who had begun to stir at the sound of his voice. Sky blue eyes blinked up at him lazily. Aomine leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips before smiling down at the smaller man.

"'Morning." Kuroko returned the smile.

"Good morning." Aomine watched as Kuroko rolled onto his back and stretched, looking like a cat. He would never get tired of the sight. "Do you need to be at the station?"

"Yeah. My Chief's hounding me." He said ruefully.

Humming slightly, Kuroko cast his eyes over Aomine very deliberately. "I hope you made time to go back and get changed."

Aomine looked down at his shirt. He hadn't thought of that. It was the same shirt that he had worn the day before, and since he had gone to sleep in it, it was completely wrinkled.

"I will now." He said, with a grin. Climbing out of the bed, he grabbed his overnight bag and his jeans. He looked up to see Kuroko sitting straight, bed hair ridiculous, torso bare, and the blanket that covered him from the waist down incredibly tempting.

He tugged on his jeans and straightened his shirt as best as he could before he stopped beside Kuroko. Bending, he planted a hasty kiss on his forehead and ruffled his hair playfully.

"I'll call you?" There was no harm in making sure. Nodding, Kuroko pulled him down for a proper kiss.

"Make sure you do."


	11. Chapter 11

**Whew! This past week has been really busy for me, which is why this is getting posted up nearly three days late. Sorries! **

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, and for the love and support you've shown this bit of insanity. You're the reason I convince myself to not end this sometimes. **

**The next chapter should be up soon-ish, as this week is supposed to be a bit slower, so keep a look out for it! **

**Anyway, onto the story! Enjoy, and lemme know what you think!**

* * *

Something was terribly wrong.

Aomine was walking out of his bedroom, mid-way through tugging the plain black shirt over his head when the thought hit him. Glancing at the clock on the wall as he stepped past his kitchenette, he felt a nagging worry nibble at the back of his mind. He had promised Midorima that he would be at the station by twelve-ten, but because he had decided to swing over his place to change into fresh clothes, it was already five minutes past the appointed time. And if there was one thing that Midorima hated more than Aomine, it was Aomine being late.

He stopped in his tracks, standing completely still in the middle of the small expanse he called his living room, and listened hard. Silence.

Frowning, he retraced his steps back to his bedroom, and cast a keen eye over every available surface, trying to find the small cellular device that should be playing that raucous melody that was his ringtone. Nothing. Speedily, he pattered through his small apartment, trying hard to remember if he had tossed the phone somewhere when he had walked in. He thought hard, attempting to recall if he had perchance left it in his car in his hurry to come up and get changed.

No, he knew for a fact that he hadn't left his phone behind in the vehicle, because there hadn't been a phone to leave behind. That would mean that the phone was at the last place he had been. Cursing, he grabbed his coat, keys, and slipped his feet into the shoes that he had bought on his date with Kuroko, not bothering to tie the shoelaces and slammed the door shut behind himself as he dashed as fast as his awkwardly shoed feet would allow him to the elevator.

Midorima was going to kill him.

**xx**

_Ding Dong! _

Pale blue eyes blinked, and looked up at the sound of the doorbell. Aomine had only been gone for a little less than half an hour, and he was already getting a lot of visitors. Pressing the button to turn down the volume on the TV, he pushed himself off the sofa and padded to the door. He opened it, and stared confusedly at the tall, tan man that stood in front of him, looking sheepish. Reflexively, Kuroko turned a quick glance behind himself before he opened the door fully for the taller man.

"That was quick." Aomine detected the underlying question, and smiled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I think I left my phone here this morning."

"Oh," It might have been his imagination, but Aomine thought he caught a hint of relief on Kuroko's face. "Wait here a second, I'll go get it."

Just as the bluenette turned away from the door, there was a click somewhere deeper in the apartment, and both heard an irked voice over the sound of the TV.

"Tetsuya, this abomination has been ringing incessantly for the past fifteen minutes. Would you kindly just answer it?"

Into the hallway padded a man, not much taller than Kuroko, and very obviously just out of a shower, as was evident by the towel tossed over his head that reminded Aomine of the Sith Lord from Star Wars. He looks pissed off, was the first thing that ran through Aomine's mind, the second being, Oh shit, that's my phone in his hand. He extended his hand, mouth open to let the guy know that the phone was his, when the other man tossed his head backwards, relocating the towel higher up on his head.

Aomine's voice died and his words got lost in a tangle somewhere in his throat. All he was capable of was staring dumbfoundedly at the gold and red eyes that flashed at them.

"A-Akashi… Seijurou?" He stammered, voice disbelieving. There was a fleeting look of surprise on the redhead's face that was immediately replaced by disdain.

"And who are you, to know my name?"

"I-" he began, still too shocked to process the interrogative look that he was being directed.

"He is the owner of that phone," Aomine started at the sound of Kuroko's voice. He'd almost forgotten that he was there. "And he needs it now, because he has to be somewhere urgently."

"Hm," The redhead began toying with the device that had gone silent in his grasp, tossing it casually into the air and catching it. He cast a critical eye over Aomine, no doubt trying to decipher what the tan man was to the apartment's official resident. After the third toss, he paused. "Aomine Daiki, I presume?"

Hearing his name on the other man's lips snapped him out of his trance, and Aomine's eyes narrowed suspiciously. They had never met in their life. Aomine knew of Akashi Seijurou on account of his profession. There was not a man or woman working in the police force in Japan who did not know his name.

"Akashi-kun," There was a hint of warning in Kuroko's voice. Aomine's gaze locked onto Kuroko. How well did he know one of the most notorious men in the world to be able to speak like that to him? "The phone, please."

"Well, well, you must be Tetsuya's new flame, Aomine-kun." With a sneer, he enunciated the detective's name snidely. "As I would not wish to upset my dear host, I shall let you leave unbothered."

Mockingly, he bowed slightly, and moved his arm so fast that Aomine only realized that he was clutching his mobile phone when he registered his hand hovering in front of his face, having caught the device reflexively. The devil's sneer widened, and he looked borderline maniacal. Aomine wasn't sure if it was a good idea to leave Kuroko alone with him. As though reading his mind, sky blue eyes caught his gaze, and he smiled apologetically.

"You should get going," he said softly. "I'll be waiting for your call."

Feeling reassured, because he really didn't know what to make of the situation, Aomine nodded curtly and left.

In his car, he sat with his hands on the steering wheel, staring at nothing. He jumped when his ringtone started up, and answered the phone with a terse, "What?"

"You're nearly an hour late." Midorima's irritated voice over the phone calmed his nerves slightly. He needed something normal right now. "At this rate we'll waste the whole day away. I'll send you the address and meet you there."

Not waiting for a reply – not that Aomine had one ready – he hung up, and seconds later, his phone buzzed, the address of the latest crime scene in his inbox.

Grateful for the diversion, Aomine put his car into gear and drove off.

**xx**

"Did you really have to do that?" Akashi didn't look up from the novel that he was reading while propped up against the headboard of Kuroko's bed.

"I merely greeted him," he replied indifferently. He flipped the page but halted at the sound of clinking chinaware. Glancing at Kuroko who sat at the foot of the bed, he noted the tray loaded with a steaming mug and a bowl of porridge.

"A simple 'hi' generally does the job," Kuroko retorted primly. "You did that on purpose."

"And what if I did?" His eyes shone with annoyance even as his voice was unaffected. "You know you cannot trust this man."

Kuroko watched Akashi silently for a while, then finally stood up. He pulled the book out of Akashi's compliant hands and settled the tray onto his lap. He ran a hand gently through Akashi's hair, smiling inwardly as the other leaned almost imperceptibly into the touch.

"Make sure you rest up," he whispered, as he planted a light kiss on Akashi's temple and left the room to return to his TV show.

Alone, Akashi twiddled with the spoon in the porridge for a while, lost in thought. With a sigh that relaxed his tense shoulders and whispering a thank you for the meal, he began eating.

**xx**

"I know you said it was bad news," Aomine began. They stood in the middle of the living room of the penthouse belonging to a famous model. "But this is _really_ bad news."

Midorima merely replied with a grunt. The green-eyed man had smacked him hard on the head the moment he walked into the apartment, reprimanding him for his tardiness and essentially being a mom. That comment had earned him another smack.

Midorima led the way past the torn curtains, upturned sofas, and bits of electrical hardware from what was once the TV and stereo system into one of the adjourning rooms. The second both entered, they reeled back, blanching.

"How long have they been here?" Aomine wheezed, taking several steps back and covering his nose with his hand.

"Long enough," came the grim reply, muffled by the handkerchief that Midorima had pulled out. "The owner just came back today, which is why this only just got reported."

"He was being awfully quiet for a while." Aomine accepted a face mask held out to him by one of the CSIs with a nod of thanks and put it on. "Just them?"

Midorima nodded. Both partners stood at the doorway, looking around the room. Through their four years together, they had gotten used to gruesome murders and bloody scenes, but while neither would admit to it, the sight they beheld made their stomachs queasy.

Two female bodies lay stretched out alongside each other on the king-sized bed, arms and feet secured to the ends of the bed, stab wounds littering every available surface of their naked bodies.

Aomine turned around, the stench and the sight making him feel a headache come on.

"What about the model?" He asked, referring to the owner of the penthouse who had been overseas for the past two weeks. From her statement, they had gathered that the two murder victims were friends of hers who had been house-sitting.

"Shaken, as expected. She'll obviously not be of any use to us." Midorima, too, turned away from the scene, choosing to walk around the living room and look for anything that might be of relevance.

"She can't tell if anything's missing yet, since the place is in such a mess. Once we're done cleaning up, though, besides telling us if something is gone – " he shrugged to end the sentence.

The pair of detectives stood in the middle of the chaos that was the living room, both wondering what kind of fight two young women must have put up for the place to be so absolutely trashed. Aomine turned a questioning look to his companion.

"This doesn't look like something that would happen just from a struggle," Midorima observed, taking the words right out of his mouth.

With a nod, Aomine said, "It seems like he did that to them then stuck around to mess up the place."

"He's getting cocky," The bespectacled man said with a grimace. "This isn't good."

**xx**

Aomine sat in his car, staring off into space. It was a habit that he seemed to have developed ever since he started this whirlwind of a relationship with Kuroko. It was dark outside, and somewhat chilly. Autumn was close, he thought distractedly as his roving gaze locked onto the bright, gaudy light from a nearby streetlight. It had been, what? Two months since he met Kuroko? In those few weeks, he'd found himself falling steadily deeper into the sinkhole that was a combination of emotions, unexpected discoveries, and even more shady secrets. Every revelation led to a boat-load of questions, and every question left him dreading the answers.

Turning around, he pulled a plain brown folder from the top of a pile in the backseat of his car towards himself, eyes focused unseeingly on the front of it as he propped it against his steering wheel and continued to drown in the silence of his thoughts. Slowly, hesitantly, because he wasn't sure if he wanted to read what was inside, he opened the folder, immediately zooming in on the picture of a smirking face, looking the other direction when the picture was taken. He saw the shock of red hair, and the corner of the gold eye, but he knew that the other eye would be a bright, scorching red.

It didn't feel right. It felt like an invasion of privacy, even though the file only detailed Akashi Seijurou. But it seemed like the incursion somehow leaked over into the shadowy crooks of Kuroko, and he was stealing glances into that world without an inkling of what he was doing there.

Making his decision, because he was a cop, and stood for integrity and all that jazz, he tossed the file over his shoulder onto the pile behind his seat, and with a few taps pulled up a number on his phone.

**xx**

_Ding Dong!_

This time when the bell rang, Kuroko knew who it was. And he was prepared. He unlocked it, ushering the tall man in wordlessly. He wasn't really surprised when the other threw a nervously hesitant glance around his apartment before stepping in. He couldn't fault him. One meeting with Akashi would put anyone on high alert.

"He's gone home," he offers to explain the silence. Turning, he leads the way into his kitchen and sits down, gesturing for his companion to take the seat opposite him. When he does so, he pushes a mug of coffee across the table. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"I'm sure you know," Aomine replies with a wry quirk of his lips. "How is it a kindergarten teacher knows a man like Akashi Seijurou?"

Kuroko gives him a thoughtful look, as though gauging out how much he could be trusted with. "Akashi-kun is my brother."

"Your brother?" He squeaks as midnight eyes widened and Aomine was only able to process the thought that he was glad that he hadn't taken a sip of the drink.

Nodding, Kuroko says, "Step-brother. My mother married his father when we were very young."

"Step-brother." Aomine repeated numbly. It was horrifyingly hilarious. Midorima and Satsuki would enjoy this, the sardonic part of his brain said. He had been prepared to view Akashi as a nemesis for Kuroko's attention, because that was easier than thinking of them as just friends. But, _brothers._

"Brothers," he echoed out loud, burying his face in his hands. "Your _brother_ is the country's most feared and respected crime lord."

Kuroko looked at him apprehensively when his shoulders started shaking from mirth. He threw his head back, the laughter coming off of him in rolling waves as he clutched his aching side. When he calmed down enough to pry his eyes open, Kuroko's concerned face swam in his vision. The urge to laugh left him suddenly, and he abruptly stopped as something dawned on him.

"He looked me up," he said, part question and part revelation. "He hates me, doesn't he?"

"He does," Kuroko's expression was a mixture of relief that Aomine had gone back to normal and ruefulness. "But if it makes you feel any better, he hates all cops."

With a satirical chuckle, Aomine wiped away a wayward tear. "I do suppose that makes me feel better."

"So," The dark-haired detective wasn't sure what to make of the pale man's hesitation. Please let there be no more revelations for the day, he prayed. There was only so much he could handle. "Would you like to stay tonight?"

Aomine pursed his lips, not expecting the question. Would he like to? Most certainly. If he could, he would want to spend all of his waking hours with the man sitting across the table, looking adorably earnest. But there was a whole new twist to their story, and he wasn't sure what to make of it yet. Complications would undoubtedly come up, especially if the most dangerous man in Japan was tossed into the mix.

"I'd better not," he returns with an apologetic smile. "This right now, along with everything else, I just –"

Kuroko's lips curved with an understanding smile as he retracted the finger he had placed over Aomine's lips to stop him. Bent over the table, he ran the back of his fingers lightly down the side of Aomine's face, looking so contrite that he almost changed his mind right then. He may have fallen in deep, but even after this revelation he wasn't sure he wanted a way out.

Placing a hand over Kuroko's, he pressed a tender kiss into his palm, and looked deep into the beautifully fragmented skies that were Kuroko's eyes.

"I'll call you," he says, a bit of assurance, and a lot of promise. It would take more than this to keep him away from Kuroko. "Don't write me off just yet."

With a smile, Kuroko whispers, voice saturated in respite, "Thank you."

* * *

***cue dramatic music* Akashi makes another appearance! I think my AkaKuro infatuation is starting to leak into this story. Which is not good, because... incest is generally not accepted by society. Generally.**

**Also, because one good turn deserves another, do check out LycheeLove's fic, Invisible! It's a fun, GoMxKuroko, Modeling!AU fic, and if you're as fickle as I am at deciding OTPs (and/or you just want to imagine hot, shirtless men), it's perfect for you. Warning, though, you'll be incredibly frustrated by the lack of a clear pairing. Murdering above mentioned author is strongly advised against. **

**Once again, loves! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Gasp! What is this? Another chapter so soon?! Ehehe. Sometimes I like to surprise. **

**But really, this is going up so soon because like I said earlier, my schedule got thrown off, and so I'm making up for the lost time. **

**I slaved over this for the past five hours consecutively, so I sincerely hope you like this. Or I might just cry. ;-;**

**Anyway, thank you all for the lovely reviews! Bree's was insane, you made me feel like this was a crime drama wtf. **

**OH! Before I forget! YOU GUISE ARE ALL HORRIBLE. IT'S STILL INCEST IF THEY'RE LEGALLY BROTHERS. **

* * *

"It has been confirmed that nothing was taken from the latest crime scene." Midorima and Aomine stood near a wall in their chief's office, a large whiteboard behind them pinned up with photographs of victims and crime scenes, and some scribbled notes and comments. The obvious increase in violence in their serial killer case had prompted their superiors to assign more policemen to the case, in the hopes of catching him soon and to be able to assure the public that something was being done about him. Thus, it had been left to the two detectives to pick a number of rookies to join the growing team, as other stations in the nearby vicinity offered their assistance. At the moment, they were briefing the newly established team, so that all of those present would be well acquainted with the material, and they would be able to cast a wider net around the city in search of him.

"Though, that seems to be the case only because there were no cameras there, functioning or otherwise," Aomine tagged on. "We're working on the assumption that the lack of a trophy was why he destroyed the apartment."

"Although he's shown violent tendencies in the past, his previous victims were either shot or stabbed once, meaning that he relied heavily on the element of surprise." Midorima said, a hand going up to readjust his glasses. "This new M.O. seems to indicate that there is something that is frustrating him, and this frustration is starting to build. He's looking for an outlet for his rage."

"His taste in women also seems to have changed. Before this he would target women who had been models at a point in their lives, current or otherwise, but never someone famous nor working in the field full-time," Aomine gestured to a photoset behind him. "The two girls he attacked, however, were not models. They were university students, staying in that penthouse by request of the owner, who is a well-known model while she shot a new ad overseas. We cannot say for certain yet whether he was aware of this information when he went there."

Midorima waved the folder he held in his hand at the audience. "Everything we've found out regarding our man is included in your packages. If there's anything more you need to know, our personal phone numbers are listed in there. The higher-ups have clearly stated that nothing is to be spared while we look for this man. That means information, time, or money. He's attacked half a dozen girls and gotten away with nearly all of them. He needs to be stopped."

**xx**

As one, the two tall detectives collapsed into their seats, loud sighs leaving both of them. Leaning his head back, Aomine stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the briefing that had just ended. "How many models do you know?"

In a position that mirrored his, Midorima replied, "Just the one friend we share. Why? Are you worried about all your ex-girlfriends?"

"Not really," he grimaced as he sat up straight, his back screaming at him. "But I think we should tell Satsuki, don't you?"

Green eyes studied him for a while. "I suppose so. There's really no point to trying to hide this anymore, is there?"

"Hm," Aomine pulled out his phone, blinking at the missed call that flashed on his screen. "Speaking of the devil."

"Oh, by the way," Midorima's voice made him pause before he hit the call button. "Takao asked me to give you this."

The navy-haired man frowned at the creamy white square of an envelope that was tossed onto his desk. "Do I want to know what's in there?"

"It's an invitation."

"Awfully fancy," he commented, picking it up by the corner as though he was afraid it would blow up. He had already fallen for it once before.

"It's supposed to be a congratulatory dinner for Satsuki on landing that big job with Dior."

Midnight eyes looked across the desks, eyebrows raised in askance. "Tie?"

With a nod, Midorima answered, "At least."

Groaning, Aomine dropped the envelope, no longer worried about it exploding. "You know how much I hate suit and tie events."

"It was Satsuki's idea. She's inviting all these important people, apparently." Midorima retorted, raising his hands in a defensive pose.

"In that case she won't miss a couple of cops, will she?"

"Takao already promised my presence." Midorima said, voice vaguely forlorn. "And I'll be damned if I have to go and you skip on me."

Aomine cursed. "Could you just say no to your boyfriend once? Just _once?_"

Midorima shot him a derisive look. "Can you?"

**xx**

The shrill cry of his phone woke him up with a jolt, and he cracked open faded eyes to glare daggers in the direction of his bedside table where his phone was. Struggling from under the surprising weight of the blanket and the arm wrapped tightly around his waist, he stretched out as far as he could reach and managed to nudge the cellular device close enough for him to grip it properly. Hastily, he answered it, wondering what could be so important on his day off.

"Hello?" he croaked, and then silently swallowed hard to clear his throat. "Aida-san?"

"Good morning, Kuroko-kun," he heard the amused voice of his boss on the other end of the line. "Aren't you coming in today?"

"Today?" He asked, forehead wrinkling with a frown. "Isn't it Saturday?"

The silence on the other side went on for much too long. "Kuroko-kun, were you out drinking last night again?"

Running a hand through his messy hair, he smiled ruefully, even though his boss couldn't see it. "I might have been."

"So I thought. Really, you'd be the perfect man if you could just stop these horrible addictions of yours."

"But it's my addiction that pays most of my rent," he chuckled slightly. Aida always hated it whenever he implied that he wasn't being paid enough, which wasn't true. They both knew that he would be able to live reasonably well off his teacher's salary, but his – for lack of a better word – alcoholism had prompted him to find other outlets of revenue so that he wouldn't find himself in debt.

"Yes well, you still need this job to keep you going, regardless of whatever you earn on the side." Aida's voice had turned brisk, and he could sense that the conversation was ending. "Today is Friday, just in case you're still drunk. There is still enough time for you to make it here by break-time. I leave it up to you to decide if you want to retain this job."

The line clicked, and Kuroko tossed his phone somewhere else on his bed. He had half a mind to crawl back under the blanket where the heat of his body had printed itself and was still warm. But he knew better than to refuse Aida. As he sat up, debating his choices, the other body stirred, and cat-like gold and red eyes blinked lazily up at him.

"Good morning, Tetsuya."

"Good morning," he said, a soft smile slipping onto his face. "I have to go to school."

Nodding, Akashi rolled onto his side, moving until his body was wrapped around Kuroko's like a snake. "Do you need to leave now?"

"Soon." He replied, absent-mindedly toying with the strands of ruby-coloured hair as Akashi nuzzled his side. "I should go get ready."

"Mm," Akashi's eyelids were already drooping. Kuroko had to bite back the smile that threatened to split his face. Akashi was not a morning person, despite popular belief. He was the only one who knew of his step-brother's weakness, as they had shared a bed through most of their years growing up. "Do you want breakfast?"

"If Akashi-kun is making it, I can't refuse," he replied, hint of a tease in his voice.

"That's decided then," With a bit of a struggle, Akashi unwound himself from around Kuroko and sat up, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. He turned a mischievous grin towards the bluenette. "Where's my morning kiss?"

"Not until you brush your teeth," Kuroko retorted. He was sliding out of the bed when he froze, realizing for the first time that his body was completely bare.

"Akashi-kun." The latter hummed, staring off into space as his eyes were still having some difficulty staying open. "Why am I naked?"

Akashi shot him a strange look. "Because you're not wearing anything?"

Kuroko gave him a deadpan stare. And the redhead had the audacity to call Aomine cheesy. "No shit, Sherlock. Why am I naked in a bed with you?"

Akashi's grin made Kuroko want to throw something at him. "You seem to have come to a conclusion all of your own."

"But we're brothers!" He burst out, looking appalled.

"That's not what you said last night," Akashi replied with a snort. "Nor all the other times."

"Please tell me you're joking." Kuroko leaned over the side of the bed, eyes searching for his clothes. "Didn't dad tell you that it was bad to take advantage of people under the influence?"

"I wasn't the one taking advantage," Akashi leered. "And for the record, I tried to stop you from drinking so much, but you kept insisting that you had today off."

Tossing his step-sibling a narrowed glare, Kuroko finally located his boxers and quickly tugged them on.

"You're going to be late if you keep up trying to argue about what we may or may not have done last night." Akashi's pointed words stopped him before he even had the chance to begin. Mumbling under his breath he threw away the blanket and got out of bed, throwing another scowl at his brother for good measure.

When he got out of the bathroom, the steam from his shower followed him, making him shiver slightly as the droplets of water on his exposed skin collided with the cooler air in the rest of his apartment. From the kitchen he heard Akashi tinkering about as he prepared breakfast. Stepping into his bedroom, he glanced briefly at the clock, gladly noting that he still had plenty of time to have breakfast before he had to leave.

Fully clothed, Kuroko left his bedroom with a small backpack that he carried with him when he went to work that had all his essentials. Like a change of clothes, because you never know with toddlers.

The smell of cooking food wafted over him, and led him along to the kitchen where Akashi was standing in front of the stove, tossing something in a pan. Instead of going forward to inspect what he was preparing like his stomach was urging, Kuroko lingered in the doorway, taking in the dips and planes of Akashi's uncovered back. Even from behind it was easy to tell that the man worked out. With every roll of his shoulder as he moved the pan, the muscles around his shoulder-blade moved, drawing Kuroko's fascinated gaze. If it had been anyone else he would have given in to the desire to nibble a trail along the movements.

Sometimes life wasn't fair.

As Akashi reached for a plate and took the pan off the stove, clear blue eyes scrutinized every move of his back, thoughts of another, taller, tanner man standing in his place, in a similar circumstance pervading his mind's eye.

"Oh, Tetsuya," Akashi greeted as he turned around with the laden plate. "I hope you're hungry."

That question was unnecessary, Kuroko felt like pointing out. Like him being the only one aware of Akashi's trouble waking up, Akashi was one of a small group who was conscious of just how much food Kuroko could consume after a night out and about town. He sat down across the redhead, waiting patiently for him to place the plate in front of him. Kuroko cocked an eyebrow at the piece of toast and cup of black coffee in front of Akashi, but didn't comment.

Ankles bumping under the table, they both dug into their respective meals, the silence that settled around them comforting and familiar.

**xx**

"Dai-kun! I'm so sorry I'm late!" Aomine looked up from the game he was playing on his phone to spot his pink-haired friend waving exuberantly a few tables away. Her outburst had turned several heads, many of which trailed after her as she walked past to the table which he was seated at, his back facing a glass wall.

"Whew!" she huffed as she plopped down opposite him. "Traffic was insane today."

"I thought you had a driver," he said, pocketing his mobile.

"Yeah, but since I finished later than expected, I told him I'd drive myself. His wife is giving birth soon and he's been worrying about her." The model-slash-photographer slipped the camera bag strap off her shoulder and placed it under the table. "So! How have you been?"

Aomine shrugged vaguely. "Do you want to order some food first?"

"Sure!" He had barely raised a hand when a waitress appeared beside them, practically beaming at him. Returning the smile, he told her his order, and waited for Satsuki to do the same. After the server had walked away, his companion turned teasing eyes towards him.

"I see that charm is still going strong." She said, waggling her eyebrows in a way that was definitely not attractive. "How is your latest conquest? Had your fill?"

"We're still going strong," Aomine replied with a wistful quirk to his lips. "Kinda."

"I sense some sort of trouble in you," Satsuki said, deepening her voice dramatically and squinting at him slightly. "All things are not as they seem?"

Aomine burst out laughing at her expression. She was spot on, but he didn't want to tell anyone exactly what was going on with him and Kuroko. It had taken a lot of trust to confide in him how closely related he was to Akashi Seijurou. He wouldn't betray that trust easily.

"I met his brother," he offered instead. "He hates me."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you," she scoffed. "I remember when you met one of your girls' sister who would stare you into hell but eventually had the hots for you too."

The dark-haired man gave her a disbelieving look. "Are you saying I should hit on his brother?"

"Why not," Satsuki returned with a shrug. "You're too far gone after all."

"I doubt it'll work," he said drily. "Anyway, I called you because I needed to tell you something."

"What is it?" She could sense by the look on his face just how serious the topic they were approaching was. Putting all jokes aside, she leaned forward, elbows on the table.

"It's about this case that Midorima and I are working on. You've probably heard on the news, the serial killer?" Satsuki nodded, her ponytail bouncing slightly with the motion. "I need you to keep an eye out. He's bad news."

"I will," she said quietly. If Aomine went out of his way to warn her, something he had done only twice over the course of his years in the police force, she knew well enough to take it to heart. But she knew that something was bothering her childhood friend, and she didn't want the day to get dampened because of a faceless murderer.

Heaving a huge sigh, she sent him a crooked smile. "If only I had someone big and strong like Dai-kun to protect me from danger."

Taking the bait, Aomine cocked an eyebrow. "What happened to that dude you were dating?"

"It was doomed to fail. My schedule is too packed for someone like him, and I don't think he takes media attention very well."

"That's too bad."

"Isn't it?" She leaned forward conspirationally. "But I've got my eye set on someone else."

"Oh?" Aomine glanced up as their food arrived, and conversation stalled while they took their first bites. "Same line of work?"

"Yup, he's a model, too. I'm sure I mentioned him before, we did an ad campaign together some time back." She paused to take another bite. "He reminds me of Dai-kun, what with all the lame pick-up lines."

"Hey!" he protested around a mouthful. "My lines are classy."

She shot him a droll look. "In a seventies soap opera, maybe."

"If they are lame, then what are you for falling for his lines?" Aomine retorted, shooting her a challenging look.

She was about to reply when something over his shoulder caught her eye. Pink eyes widened until they seemed to permeate her entire face, and then her chair scraped against the tiled floor as she stood up abruptly and ran out, barely managing to say a quick, "Be back in a sec!"

Left blinking in surprise at the spot she had just vacated, Aomine snapped himself out of it and whipped his head around, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of what it was that had caught her attention. Outside, she stood just beside a pillar, talking excitedly to whoever it was behind it. A pillar, huh? How convenient, he thought sarcastically. He resumed eating, because whatever was happening outside was not worth letting his food go cold. He had priorities.

"Dai-kun, here's someone I want you to meet! We went to middle school together!" He looked up, halfway through his food, slightly irritated at the prospect of having a cosy meal interrupted by a stranger that his companion had recognized from eons ago. Satsuki pulled whoever it was she had clamped onto from behind her, so that he stood abreast with her. "I don't know if you know each other, but I dated him for a while in high school."

The two men stared at each other, recognition obvious on their faces, but definitely not because of any memories from their schooling days.

"Tetsu?" Aomine intoned just as Kuroko said dazedly, "Aomine-kun?"

"Oh, you know each other?" Satsuki turned a surprised look between the two confused men. "I didn't know you were friends."

"Satsuki," Aomine shifted his gaze away uneasily, wishing that he could melt into the floor right then. "He's the one I've been telling you about."

"Eh? I don't recall you talking about –" Suddenly, it dawned on her. This time, the look she tossed between them was very different. With an awkward chuckle she said, "Well, isn't this a small world?"

"What are you doing here?" Aomine directed at Kuroko who was looking extremely uncomfortable.

"I came with Kise-kun. He wanted someone to keep him company while he shopped." Dark eyes narrowed. That damn guy had better not be trying any moves on his man.

Satsuki squealed at his words. "Kise-kun is here? But I didn't see him with you."

"He had to go to the restroom. I'll go bring him over." With that, he ambled off, drawing every eye that he walked past.

"So, Tet-kun, huh?" Aomine tore his eyes away from Kuroko's ass. Satsuki was looking at him with a smile that he had learned, translated to trouble.

"Uh-huh." Plump lips pouted as she hummed and regained her seat.

With her chin on her fist, she studied him, a small smile playing about her lips. "I'm surprised."

"Why?" He asked, eyeing her cautiously.

"You have actual taste."

* * *

**It's thanks to you lot that Akashi and Kuroko have become _that_ sort of brothers. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY. **


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't even know where to start. Teiko Arc. You guise. Halp. Tell me that Kuroko and Akashi don't look like brothers on that last page. Tell me that, and mean it, and I will murder you in acid. Also, OMG THE FEELS. DID YOU SEE KUROKO LOOK SO DETERMINED URGH JUST. MUST NOT SPOIL. BUT REALLY! **

**And thanks for all that goading to try and get me to turn this into AkaKuro. You nearly succeeded. **_**Nearly.**_** But I persevered! *proud* Instead, I wrote a oneshot (insert shameless promoting here). My AkaKuro feels are held at bay. For now. **

**This chapter is over the course of just one day, because I didn't want all the revelations to keep happening, so we're toning this down a bit. I hope you don't mind! **

**As always, a humongous thank-you hug to all of you who reviewed, favourited, and followed this! And for the reviewers who reviewed later on in the story (mainly because of AkaKuro), teeheeheeheeeee. **

**Okay, I am done. Love you all! Do review more! I love hearing what you think ;D (and sometimes I may or may not steal your ideas. Insert relevant disclaimer here).**

* * *

"So, uh," Kuroko looked up from the button on Aomine's shirt that he had been staring at. The dark-haired man looked decidedly uncomfortable. He couldn't blame him. When Kuroko had returned with Kise, Satsuki had suddenly decided that she, too, wanted to buy some sports equipment. Thus, Aomine and Kuroko had been left slack-jawed as their respective partners for the day happily went off, blatantly enamored with each other and completely unmindful of how annoying their atmosphere of floating hearts and shy giggles was.

"Do you want to eat something?" Aomine was looking everywhere except his face. It made his chest hurt. Fiddling with the spoon on the plate left behind by the pink-haired model, Kuroko shook his head wordlessly. Catching the movement out of his peripherals, Aomine nodded and resumed eating his meal, eyes focused on a spot on the floor behind Kuroko's chair. A small frown curved his lips downwards as he moved his gaze away from Aomine's determinedly unfocused eyes.

He wasn't a clingy person, or very demanding of attention, but they were supposed to be dating, and dates don't make it so obvious that they're uncomfortable around you; especially not one of Aomine's caliber. Impromptu as it was, he had been pleasantly surprised to have run into Aomine, and until then had thought that Aomine felt the same.

"Since you're so uncomfortable with me being here, I shall take my leave." He didn't mean for it to come out sounding so sharp, and he hoped that his companion hadn't noticed it. It didn't seem to be the case, however, when Aomine looked at him, alarmed. Unreasonably irritated as he was, he couldn't help but find the frantic look Aomine directed at him, laden spoon hovering just in front of his mouth that was partly open incredibly cute.

"You're not making me uncomfortable!" He burst out, forgetting the spoon he held. Kuroko raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. That, at least had gotten Aomine to look directly at him for the first time.

"You haven't looked at me properly since Momoi-san left." As the words left his mouth he felt slightly guilty. It wasn't like him to be so upset over something so trivial. It wasn't right of him to demand anything from the tan man, he knew. Despite it being mostly unintentional, he had failed to mention what his relationship with Akashi was, and he had expected that a meeting between the two would not end well, but well, Aomine himself had told him that he didn't intend on giving up on them yet. He really wanted to believe him.

There must have been something in his expression that told Aomine what was troubling him because the latter carefully laid down the spoon and picked up his glass to take a sip, scrutinizing the tabletop. Finally, he looked up as the glassware was set down with a soft thud.

"I'm not sure what you think of me right now," Aomine began, his voice barely audible in the din surrounding them. Kuroko leaned forward, arms crossed on the table to listen better. Briefly, Aomine's eyes flickered down and he paused his words as he looked elsewhere for a while, looking as though he was prepping himself for something before returning serious midnight eyes to Kuroko.

"But you're not making me uncomfortable." He repeated, sounding very sincere. "I'm happy you're here."

Kuroko let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. There was a foreign feeling in his chest, like his heart had sprouted wings and the feathers were tickling his insides.

"I just," Aomine continued, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he sighed heavily. It made him ache to see the taller man so troubled. "It's been a week, and I was feeling so bad for not being able to call you because work's been so busy, and then you turn up with that damn blonde looking ridiculously attractive as usual and then I find out that you used to go out with Satsuki and I –"

His speech had turned into a growl around the mention of Kise, and it was picking up speed when Kuroko laid a hand over his. He stopped and took a deep breath, giving Kuroko an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry if I came off weird." Aomine turned his hand around and pressed their palms against each other, thumb working lazy circles into the smooth skin on the back of Kuroko's hand. "I really missed being able to touch you."

The petite man felt a tremor run through him at the whispered admission. Aomine looked contrite, as though he had confessed to something that he thought Kuroko wouldn't approve of. This wasn't fair. He felt like the evil, self-serving bastard half of the relationship. He hadn't realized that meeting Akashi would ruffle Aomine so much. Squeezing the other's hand, Kuroko released him and waved at a passing waiter, signaling for the bill. He turned a questioning look towards Aomine who immediately picked up his spoon and finished the last bits of food on his plate.

When they walked out of the restaurant Aomine looked torn about something.

"Do you… want to buy something?" The taller of the two asked, looking so uncharacteristically awkward that Kuroko had to struggle against the urge to pull him down for a kiss right then in the middle of the crowded mall. Instead, he shook his head.

"I only came because Kise-kun wanted company. There's nothing I need." Aomine's expression darkened at the mention of his friend. Kuroko was reminded of the time Aomine had asked him along on a shopping trip under the guise of needing company. He chuckled slightly. No doubt the dark-haired man was thinking of that time, too, and probably thought that Kise was trying the same trick.

"So," he chirped, mood much lighter now that he knew he wasn't the only one being excessively desperate. "Where does Aomine-kun live?"

**xx**

"It's not as big as your place," Aomine said in warning over his shoulder as he opened the door to his apartment. "But I only come home to sleep and occasionally eat, so it works for me."

"It's lovely," Kuroko looked around in surprise. He wasn't very sure why, but he had somewhat assumed that Aomine's slapdash approach to situations would be translated into the way he kept his home. Instead, despite the compact size of the place, everything was neat, and in spite of his claim that he never spent any time there, it felt very cosy. He handed his coat to Aomine to hang up and gravitated towards the central part of the apartment. There was a large L-shaped sofa in the middle of the space, and a huge TV mounted to the wall in front of it with a coffee table placed between the two. To the left of that get up, a window opened up onto a balcony and the rest of the walls in the space were covered in shelving units containing odds and ends and a number of books.

"I'm not sure I like my home being called lovely," he heard Aomine's dry words from another part of the apartment. Spinning around, he padded into the small kitchen where Aomine was preparing a couple of mugs of tea. It had only enough room for a wall of cabinets and a small table that fit two easily and could be adjusted to squeeze four. Kuroko had half a mind to continue his exploration into the other part of the place, where he had spotted the door to Aomine's room, but held himself back. Stepping forward, he pulled out one of the chairs and settled into it, staring at Aomine's back.

"But it really is," he replied as he settled his cheek atop his fist and allowed his eyes to rove over the broad back. If only he was shirtless, he thought wistfully. He'd seen the other's back plenty of times, even spent a good portion of a morning exploring it, but it wasn't enough. He'd possibly never get tired of the sight. However, with that light coloured shirt that he currently had on, Aomine's shoulder blades stood out, and when the cloth rippled in tandem with his movements, Kuroko found himself not really minding it anymore.

It was when Aomine turned around partway to shoot him an inquisitive look that Kuroko realized that he had said something. Dragging his mind out of the gutter, Kuroko made a vague sound, earning him a lopsided grin that made his heartbeat skip.

"I asked, what makes you think of the word 'lovely'?" Aomine was amused, he could tell. Carrying the mugs, he turned away from the counter and sat down in front of Kuroko, the small table seeming to shrink even more with his bulk, and his legs were so impossibly long that their knees bumped and tangled underneath.

Accepting the proffered cup, Kuroko hummed in thought, trying to find a word that suitably described the small apartment.

"It's quaint?" He said, testing the sound of the word. Aomine crooked an eyebrow at him. "Cosy. Comfy."

"Are you describing my place or your grandmother's?" Aomine interrupted, a gorgeously silly smile brightening his features.

He gave up with a small laugh. "It's just so you. But not what I'd expected of you. It's like your personality."

"You think my personality is lovely?" Aomine asked, sounding skeptical. "That doesn't make this better."

Kuroko snorted, and stuck his tongue out at Aomine, his mind unable to conjure up any witty comebacks. They drank the tea in comfortable silence, playfully knocking their legs together and interweaving their ankles in a match ambiguously reminiscent of wrestling.

"What are you thinking about?" Kuroko broke the silence when he caught sight of Aomine's frown. The latter looked sheepishly at him.

"How to ask you if you want to check out the bedroom without it sounding dirty."

Kuroko laughed, nose practically touching the table top as he doubled over, body shaking. It took a while, but he straightened somewhat, biting his bottom lip to prevent another bout of laughter. "I guess that's as close as you'll get."

**xx**

After an official tour by the apartment's resident in which Aomine had tried hard but failed to hide his pride at the numerous basketball trophies adorning his walls, they had ended up sprawled on the sofa. Somehow, Kuroko had drifted from his spot against the opposite arm rest over to where the taller man had initially tried to keep his long limbs in check, but had eventually given up. Thus, Aomine lay on his back, stretched out along the width of the sofa with Kuroko nestled atop him. With an arm slung casually across Kuroko's back, he clicked through numerous channels on the TV until he reached the sports channel. On it, they were showing a basketball match between two up-and-coming teams. For a while, they remained like that, Kuroko just reveling in the steady rise and fall of Aomine's chest, as the other stroked leisurely up and down his back.

"I just remembered something." Kuroko took his time answering, savouring the feel of Aomine's chest rumbling with his words.

"What is it?" He asked, at last. A hand pressed to the other's chest, he rested his chin on the back of it, looking up as Aomine bent his head to lock eyes with him.

"I forgot to tell Satsuki that I was leaving with you."

"I'm sure she'll be able to do the math," he dismissed with a half shrug.

"Yeah, but she doesn't have a ride home."

"Kise-kun won't leave her there, trust me." Kuroko replied as he recalled all the excited phone calls that he had received from the said blonde at the most inconvenient times. "But I didn't know that Aomine-kun knew Momoi-san that well."

"We grew up together." Aomine returned with a wistful smile. Kuroko looked away, unsure what the tightening in his chest meant. It was turning to evening outside, he noted distractedly. Sometimes you could tell when the seasons were changing just by the feel of the sun's rays. Right then the sun was painful to look at, but it wasn't hot. The light was bright, and the sky was cloudless. That was the only source of light in Aomine's apartment, shining valiantly through the tinted windows.

Kuroko shifted his gaze back to the dark, dense pools that were Aomine's eyes when the tan man ran the backs of his fingers over his cheek.

It should be impossible for anyone to look so ethereal, he thought. With the clear light shining through his windows, Kuroko's alabaster skin seemed to shine, and the azure in his eyes glinted, deepening them inexplicably. His hair on one side of his head was flattened from lying against Aomine's chest, and the thought made him feel all tingly inside. He buried his hand in Kuroko's hair, enjoying the feel of the soft strands between his fingers.

"Beautiful," he whispered, almost unconsciously. Right at that moment, he was content. No, he was happy. He couldn't remember a time when he had laid down with someone with no intentions of doing anything with them other than to absorb the feel of their body pressed against his and the warmth that radiated from them.

The TV faded into the background, as both lost themselves in the other's gaze. Moving, Kuroko travelled slowly up Aomine's chest, guided by the soft pressure of the latter's hand on the back of his head. It was hesitant when their lips met. And apprehensive, like both were holding back, afraid of scaring the other away. Yet, it took only a second, before their lips molded together, like fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They kissed slowly, exploring each other's mouths like it was their first time meeting.

Aomine planted his hands on Kuroko's hips, hoisting him slightly higher so that Kuroko's arms could wrap around Aomine's head, providing a sort of cushion as the new position allowed him to feel more of Kuroko. He hooked a leg around Kuroko's shorter one and rolled them over so that they were on their sides with Kuroko pressed into the back of the sofa. Propping Kuroko's head up with his bicep, he curved his forearm over, letting his fingers brush over the side of the small face tantalizingly.

His free hand ran lightly along Kuroko's side, garnering a choked giggle. He watched, enchanted as Kuroko pulled away from him, face flushed and mouth curled upward in an endearing smile.

"That tickles," Kuroko tried to protest. Aomine's only answer was to repeat the motion, making him squirm slightly with a small squeal. Kuroko pushed at the hand stubbornly continuing it's journey back and forth, trying vainly not to let his laughter escape. "Stop it!"

Aomine finally complied, his hand travelling lower to wrap around a slim thigh and pull it up so that it bent over his own leg. He kissed Kuroko again to distract him from noticing his hand as it returned to his waist. By instinct the dark-haired man located a spot near his ribs that had his breath hitching on a moan. The leg over Aomine's tightened, and Kuroko pressed closer, fingers tangling in the shock of navy-coloured hair as the kiss turned demanding.

Aomine still had enough presence of mind to note that this wasn't turning out the way he had expected. Not that he had a problem with that, not in the least. He had been spending his time away from Kuroko worried, wondering about where this relationship was headed. He had been confident when he had reassured Kuroko, but the longer he spent away from him, the more ridiculous their liaison had seemed.

However, when Satsuki had dragged in Kuroko and once Aomine had gotten over the shock of finding out that they had dated at some point, he had noticed relief bubbling away inside him. He hadn't realized until Kuroko had settled down in front of him at the restaurant just how much he had craved the feel of his skin. He'd come to the conclusion that despite knowing that there were going to be some pretty hefty obstacles in the future, he was going to stick it out.

Mob boss brother be damned.

"Unf!" Kuroko's eyes flew open and they both jumped as the sound of a ringtone started up. Scrambling, Kuroko climbed over Aomine to grab at the phone he had put on the coffee table. "Hello?"

Aomine couldn't help the smirk that slid onto his face as Kuroko answered the phone short of breath. Crossing his legs, he allowed room for Kuroko to reposition himself, so that the pale man was sitting facing him, legs folded as well.

"What is it, Kise-kun?" He was saying into the phone, sounding irked. Aomine shared the sentiment. "Yes, I left with Aomine-kun."

Taking in the sight of Kuroko's tousled hair and well-kissed lips, he suddenly felt a spark of mischievousness. Leaning forward, he allowed his upper body to fall into Kuroko's lap and wrapped long arms around the slim waist.

"We went back to his apartment. I'm still here." Kuroko was intentionally ignoring him, he knew. He kept his eyes locked on Kuroko's moving lips, willing him to glance down. "Oh, is that so? I'm happy to hear that."

Pouting slightly, Aomine looked away, but nuzzled Kuroko's stomach. It was a partial victory as the move prompted Kuroko to slip the fingers of his free hand into his hair, playing with the strands absent-mindedly.

"I'm sure you had a lot of fun together," Kuroko said with a nod, even though Kise couldn't see him. Aomine found the action cute, but was also annoyed that he was letting the blonde babble on for so long. He could hear wisps of the excited voice on the phone. Kuroko hummed occasionally to show that he was listening while Aomine stared unseeingly at the TV.

"I'm sure she likes you, too." Aomine didn't like this. Not one bit. Things were moving along so fantastically, and then the blonde had to happen. Feeling unsatisfied, and foreseeing that the conversation would be going on for a rather long time, Aomine pushed his nose under the hem of Kuroko's shirt and nudged it up so that the creamy skin of his stomach was exposed. There was pressure atop his head and Aomine looked up to see Kuroko's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

"What are you doing?" He mouthed, as Kise continued talking, oblivious. Blinking innocently at Kuroko, he waited until the other said something in reply to the question on the other end and then ran his tongue over his navel. Kuroko gasped, hand fisting almost painfully in Aomine's hair.

"I—I'm fine," The petite man hastily answered. Kise had undoubtedly noticed the sound. Aomine grinned wickedly up at Kuroko and he began placing kisses all around the navel, biting at the soft flesh, thoroughly enjoying the reactions he incurred. Kuroko was squirming in an effort to get away from him, hand pushing uselessly at his head. His heels dug into the sofa, toes curling as Aomine's tongue dipped into the dent of his navel.

"Stop it!" Kuroko hissed at him, pressing the mouthpiece against his shoulder to muffle the sound.

"Not until you hang up," he retorted, emphasizing his point by plunging his tongue in again.

"Kise-kun," Kuroko brought the device back to his ear. His voice was snarky when he spoke. "I have to go. Aomine-kun is being an asshole because he's being deprived of attention."

"There," he huffed as he hung up and put down the phone. "Are you happy no – eek!"

Aomine had stood up suddenly, lifting Kuroko easily. The smaller man crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Yes I am," the tall man answered with a smirk. "Though I was fine the way we were."

"You're incorrigible," Kuroko muttered, wobbling slightly and balancing himself on Aomine's shoulders as he began walking towards the bedroom.

"Thank you," he replied amusedly. "And you taste really good."

Aomine burst out laughing as Kuroko smacked him on the shoulder.

**xx**

"Have you played cards before?" Aomine blinked sleepily at the ceiling. He lay on his back, with Kuroko curled into his side. He was starting an addiction to the feel of the pliantly warm body pressed against him.

"What kind?" He asked, pushing the sleepiness out of his head. Kuroko shifted, using his leg as a bolster of sorts.

"Poker?"

Aomine hummed thoughtfully. "I used to play when I was younger. I haven't touched a pack of cards in a while."

"How come?" Kuroko turned curious eyes towards him.

Shrugging, he replied, "I just don't have the time I guess."

"I see," the smaller man resumed his earlier position. "Are you free on Monday night?"

"Maybe," he didn't mean for the hesitation to show through, but he had a valid reason to be so cautious. Kuroko flashed him a knowing smile.

"Would you be free for a few drinks at Kagami-kun's?"

He let out a relieved huff. "Sure."

Kuroko grinned, pleased. "Oh, and bring some cash. It's Poker Night."

* * *

**No wait, I'm not done! I found AoKuro fanart. With Aomine as a cop. Kuroko looking daaaaayum fine. GOOGLE IT. GOOGLE IT AND DROWN IN THIS MONSTER OF UNEXPLAINABLE FEELS WITH MEEEE. **

**Okay, that's it. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Inspired by Poker Pair because I adore them so much. And I know it's a late update, life's caught up with me uwu I'll be sure to speed through the next chapter, though. If my brain agrees. Meh.**

**Teiko Arc is giving me so many feels ;A; All the AkaKuro and AoKuro feeeeeeels. Asdfghjkl; beautiful bbs.**

**Thankius for all the support! You guise make my day every time~**

**Anyway, read on and let me know what you think!**

* * *

When he pushed open the door to the bar, the first thing that crossed his mind was that he was in the wrong place. At second glance though, he realized that the reason for his initial impression was the furniture that looked like they were scattered haphazardly throughout the space that had previously been occupied by tall, thin tables and bar stools. Now, larger, round tables covered in green felt were being arranged, along with more serious looking chairs. Aomine stood in the doorway, at a complete lost. He didn't recognize any of the people who were busy prepping the place. Plus, he didn't know that the bar made such a big deal out of poker night.

"Aomine-san!" His head snapped around at the voice towards the long bar. He smiled in relief as he recognized the man behind the bar waving a greeting at him. Gingerly avoiding the furniture that almost seemed to be moving themselves, he made his way over to the bar where the raven-haired man gestured to a seat in front of him.

"Kuroko-san told me you'd be joining us tonight." The man said, picking up a glass and filling it with some beer before handing it to Aomine across the counter.

Accepting the drink with a nod, Aomine looked around him one more time. "Where's Kagami?"

"Back of the house," the barman replied with a jab of his thumb in that direction. "He's spending some quality time with the Accounts file."

"Does he even have the brain capacity to be doing that unsupervised?" Aomine asked drily with a quirk to his lips. The other man chuckled and shook his head in mock rebuke. Aomine raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't think so?"

"He's my boss, don't put words in my mouth."

"I'm just asking for your opinion."

"Yeah well, ask me when I'm off duty. I don't want to get sacked."

Aomine snorted. "Like he'd ever have the heart to sack you. On that note, what are you doing up front?"

"I'm always up front on Monday nights. Kagami can't handle the volume by himself."

"I never knew that Poker Night was so popular here. What's so special?"

The man smiled a secretive smile. "You'll see."

"Oi, Ahomine." They both started at the loud voice from across the floor. Aomine rolled his eyes. There were only a few people who called him that, and for this one, he had a nickname to match it.

Blinking disinterestedly at the source, he replied. "All the numbers already muddled your brain up, Bakagami?"

"I don't want to hear that from a policeman," came the answer. Kagami took the seat beside him and accepted the glass of water that was handed to him by Himuro.

"What are you saying?" Aomine growled. It wasn't that he hated the redhead, but the two of them could not remain in the same room and not find something to argue about. He didn't feel bad about it because he was mostly sure that the feeling was mutual.

"You're not even trying to prove me wrong," Kagami mocked with a shake of his head. No, he took that back, he hated the bastard.

"You still sore about that last loss?" He retorted snidely. It had been some time since he'd been on the public basketball court where the two of them had had a number of epic clashes. With his time spent between work and Kuroko, he hardly had the time for TV series, nevermind a bout of basketball. Their latest battle had been one-on-one nearly three months ago and Aomine had emerged the victor.

Obviously.

"Children, children," The fight was interrupted before it even had a chance to gain momentum. The neutral party held a hand in front of each of their faces in a sign to stop. "If you can play nice just for one night I'll give you both a lollipop."

"What the hell Tatsuya," Kagami growled at the man. "I paid for those damn sweets."

Aomine wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but he laughed along with Himuro. The tension dissipated and the dark-eyed man left the two to sip on their respective drinks in companionable silence.

"So," Kagami pursed his lips in thought. "How's it going with Kuroko?"

He hadn't really discussed the evolving relationship he had with Kuroko with his friends. It wasn't for lack of curiosity on their part, but they knew that he was busy and respected his privacy. Though in Midorima's case it was probably due to the fact that his life was just as hectic as his to give a damn. Kagami, on the other hand, wasn't really a friend. Before this he'd considered him a pain in the ass, but a good opponent which was why he put up with him. However, now that he knew that the redhead who was eyeballing him curiously was a good friend of Kuroko's, he couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, give in to the temptation and tell him to fu—mind his own business.

"Hasn't he told you?" It wouldn't hurt to make him beg a little.

Frowning, the redhead shook his head. "He told me that I should ask you when we met so that we don't sit in totally awkward silence and he can find out what you think about him through me."

"Are you sure you're supposed to reveal that last bit?" Aomine asked dubiously.

"He never said not to." Honestly, the man was too simple for his own good.

"You'd make a horrible cop," Aomine muttered into his glass. Kagami heard him, however, and flashed him a dirty look.

"You implying I can't keep a secret?"

"At least your ability to read between the lines has improved, congratulations!" The tan man returned with a sardonic smile.

"You should consider the implications before you insult me."

"Why, you gonna try to beat me on the basketball court again?"

"Because I'm a bartender. And you've been drunk here before." Kagami tossed back with a smirk. Horror started to dawn on the navy-haired man. "Betcha' don't want people knowing about your d—"

Aomine withdrew his hand immediately, looking faintly apologetic. It was completely by reflex that he had reached out and clamped a hand over Kagami's mouth even though there wasn't anyone in a vicinity close enough to hear the lowly voiced words. Kagami merely grinned at him looking – he'd like to convince himself – very much like a deranged person. Although, the truth of the matter (which he would deny vehemently) was that the grin showed a perfect set of white teeth and the mischievous spark in the blood red eyes would send a tingle down anybody's spine. Not like there was a shaft of electricity that flashed down his backbone. And if there had been it was entirely due to the cold air blasting out of the air-conditioning unit.

"What time do you start?" He asked abruptly. There were topics that he wasn't ready to approach while he was sober. Apparently though, it was all fair game when he was intoxicated. Kagami took the bait and glanced at the large clock mounted behind the bar.

"Soon. Kuroko should be here in a few minutes. I'm gonna go make a last round." With that, and a nod, he was gone.

From his perch, Aomine watched the flurry of activity as last minute changes were barked out and a whole box containing unopened decks of cards was produced. The second the clock hit seven, there was the creak of the door as people began to trickle in.

It was probably ten minutes later that he caught sight of the fluffy tuft of sky blue hair.

"Tetsu!" He called, waving until the other man caught sight of him, ignoring the pointed look he received from Himuro. At least he hadn't gotten up and bounded over to the smaller man like he really wanted to.

"You're early," Kuroko said by way of greeting as he stepped within earshot. Planting a hand on Aomine's thigh, he leaned forward to peck a chaste kiss to the tan man's lips before settling down on the stool beside Aomine. Inside, the detective's heart spluttered to a stop and restarted with a bit of effort. Gesturing to the layout of poker tables that were slowly being occupied by every type of character the world had to offer, Kuroko smiled at him questioningly.

"What do you think?"

"I didn't realize Monday nights were so big here." Aomine replied honestly.

Kuroko chuckled. Before he could reply, though, a large group of guys made a noisy entrance. Immediately spotting the brightly-haired couple at the bar they drifted over to them, each of them practically shouting a greeting as they smacked Kuroko heartily on the back and eyed Aomine curiously.

"You must be the infamous Aomine-kun." One of them piped up. He was the tallest of the lot, even though all of them were above average Japanese height, and had a shock of brown hair and a friendly grin.

"Infamous?" The said man queried. He'd never met any of them before, and it was doubtful that they were referring to his past exploits.

"Yeah!" A shorter, black haired member of the entourage chipped in. "You're the first date Kuroko's brought to Poker Night."

Aomine felt a warm, fuzzy feeling wrap around his insides like a blanket and he looked to the man beside him for confirmation. Kuroko merely shrugged nonchalantly.

"I didn't know you kept track of things like that." He monotoned, looking at the others blankly.

"We don't," A bespectacled man interjected. "We know this because he's only the second guy we've met."

"Sempai!" Kagami approached them from across the floor, grinning widely. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming today."

"And miss Poker Night?" The raven-haired man said incredulously.

"What he means is that he really wanted to see Aomine-kun."

"Shut up, Hyuuga." He shot back with a frown. "If you scare him away Kuroko-kun will get angry."

"Er." Aomine wasn't sure what the excitement was about. Had Kuroko told them a lot about him? Seeing him looking uncomfortable, the smaller man held out a hand with a pleasant smile.

"The name's Izuki. That's Hyuuga, Kiyoshi, Mitobe, Koganei, Tsuchida, Furihata, Kawahara and Fukuda." He introduced each of them in turn. Aomine was feeling a bit nervous right then. He wouldn't be expected to remember all their names, right? Accepting the outstretched hand, he shook it with what he hoped was a polite nod.

"Aomine. Though you all already know that," he replied somewhat drily.

"Don't let Hyuuga get to you. We're here every Monday night. We were just curious about you 'coz Himuro said you were really good-looking." Izuki said with a dismissive wave at the bespectacled man.

"We all went to high school together," the tallest guy spoke up. Kiyoshi, was it? "With Kuroko and Kagami. It's like a weekly meet up every Monday."

"Oh, but Aida said she'll be late," The man named Hyuuga said. His words were directed at Kagami who looked slightly disappointed but nodded understandingly.

"Have any of them made it to the first table yet?" Kuroko asked Kagami, his words making everyone else jump slightly. He'd almost seemed to have vanished while conversation flowed around him.

Kagami locked eyes with one of the staff manning a large table at the other end of the bar and had a silent conversation with him that was comprised of head shakes, nods, and funny eyebrow movements. He turned back to Kuroko with a nod. "They're starting soon. There's only one extra spot left."

"What do you say, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko questioned him. "Up for a game of poker?"

"I don't know," he said slowly. Everyone playing looked deadly serious and focused. Besides the area they were at, the rest of the place was filled with a tense silence. He had thought that it would be a small table of relaxed gambling. "I'd feel bad taking away all their money."

Kiyoshi whistled low while the others burst out laughing. "Well, if you need incentive, you should hear what the grand prize is."

Aomine raised an eyebrow in silent askance at his companion. With a slow, gorgeous smile, Kuroko answered. "Me."

**xx**

It had been a while since he'd felt the thrill of adrenaline that gambling provided. And by a while, he meant at the very least, five years. Still, his rusty skills improved at an abnormally fast rate, and he had managed to accumulate a decent pile of money in the short time he'd been playing. He glanced one more time at the cards he held and with calm, steady movements he made some adjustments. Across the table, Kuroko too, had a mound of money in front of him, one that was substantially larger than Aomine's. Wearing that look of concentration that Aomine adored, he was arranging his cards as well.

After the initial shock of hearing Kuroko say that the grand prize was himself, Aomine had been given a crash course on how Poker Night worked by his friends. The detective was told that Poker Night was actually a small and cosy affair when it first began. However, other patrons who watched the game were blown away by how well Kuroko played, having never lost a game to any of his friends, and had begun to join in, too, in the hopes of beating him.

Later, the prize of beating Kuroko and claiming a made up title had somehow evolved into a date with the said man, and that announcement had spiked the interest of strangers that catapulted Poker Night into the monster it now was. However, due to the fact that there were at least a hundred people hoping to have a go at beating the blue-haired genius, and there was only one of him, Kagami had set up a system in which the players would play until one remained at the table, and that one would graduate to the next table and so on and forth. It was designed in such a way that only the very best would be able to reach the first table, where Kuroko would play against them.

So, in effect, Aomine mused silently, every single person who was seated at the multiple tables were all after his man. That knowledge was why he was mercilessly bull-dozing his way through the other players. Two rounds later, another man gave up with a frustrated sigh, leaving the table with four players. The tension was palpable, and the crowd only got bigger as the night went on and the other two men retired.

Aomine considered the cards in his hands. "So if I win, I get to go on a date with you?"

Humming, Kuroko smiled pleasantly at him. "And if I win I get all your money."

"Hm," long, tapered fingers tapped out a rhythm on the table as he sized Kuroko up. He had played only to ward off all the other men and women who had tried to make advancements on Kuroko. He wasn't in it for the money at all. He looked long and hard at his cards. With what he had, he could easily win the game, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Then again, an obligatory date sounded interesting. Also, truthfully, he didn't mind the money.

The crowd around them seemed to lean forward, and even the people who had come to drink had drifted over and were watching them with anticipation.

"Kuroko-san." The dealer prompted. His words sent a sizzle through the air, and the silence was so thick that a pin dropping would spark chaos. Painfully slow, Kuroko turned his cards around. Making his decision, Aomine checked his cards one last time and laid them out. The silence was making his ears ring and time seemed to stop as Kuroko's blue eyes dropped down to see his cards. Even the dealer seemed to have frozen. Seconds ticked by when suddenly, as one, everyone reacted, the life seeming to slam back into the room.

There were shouts and yells, and people clambering over each other to get a better look at the cards laid out. Aomine smiled at the disbelieving look that had invaded Kuroko's face.

"Dinner at my place tomorrow night?" He said teasingly while the commotion around them escalated as the news spread and everyone fought to come over and see it for themselves. At his words Kuroko looked at him, eyes glassy for a second before his lips curled up in an incredulous smile. Kuroko shook his head laughingly at Aomine while the roar in the bar seemed to reverberate through their bodies.

Aomine's eyes widened and he let out an undignified yelp as arms grabbed at his and he was hoisted into the air too quick for him to react. There was a chant going on, though it seemed like there were at least fifteen versions of it, and he was carried on the shoulders of a few burly men away from Kuroko across to the bar. He was set down in front of a stool, and went along with the nudging fingers in his spine onto the seat.

Himuro grinned at him, and pushed something towards the tan man. He raised an eyebrow but accepted it with a nod of thanks. It seemed as though his victory was being interpreted as everyone's victory. The patrons were cheering and knocking huge jugs of beer together in celebration. The moment he was set down at the bar he was forgotten. He watched in disbelieving awe as some even whipped out their phones and cameras to snap pictures of the cards that Kagami had commanded were to be left alone.

Shaking his head, Aomine turned rueful eyes to the bartender. "Should I have let him win?"

"I really thought you would." Kuroko said, appearing from the crowd behind him.

"I'm sorry?" Aomine said hesitantly. The smaller man shook his head at him with a sigh.

"There goes my reputation."

"Well done, man!" Aomine gasped at the loud smack he received. Kiyoshi was grinning at him widely while the others looked on with expressions ranging from disbelief to awe. "I've never seen someone cheat better than Kuroko!"

"Hey!" The two accused men started in unison. "I didn't cheat!"

"Yeah sure, whatever you say," Kiyoshi replied drolly. "You do realize you're now obligated to come play at least once a month now."

"I'm not a big fan of poker," Aomine began. If he had known that it would turn out like this he would have just let Kuroko win.

"Nonsense!" Izuki interrupted him. "You were amazing out there. You must have practiced a lot."

"Where did you learn to play like that?" A pleasant looking man asked him. He couldn't recall his name. Tsunami, was it?

"I grew up on the streets." Aomine responded with a shrug. "It was an easy way of making money. And relatively legal."

"Man, Kuroko," Kagami squeezed out of the milling crowd and joined them. "Your fans are mad. They're saying they want to play against Aomine to regain your honour."

Aomine dropped his forehead onto the counter, groaning. "I should've just let you win."

"There, there," Kuroko patted him soothingly on the back. "I don't mind. But if you really feel bad you could give me my portion of the money."

"Where is he?!" A loud female voice carried over the din, and a short-haired brunette struggled from the door to their party. "Kuroko-kun! I heard you lost!"

"You don't need to sound so delighted, Aida-san," Kuroko replied flatly.

"Ohoho, but I am!" She returned, looking extremely gleeful. "Maybe now you'll realize you won't keep winning forever."

"That was the first loss ever," Kuroko pointed out. "Besides Aomine-kun no one else has succeeded."

Aida snorted. "If you played fair there'd be more people who could beat you."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Really," Aida huffed irritably. "These bad traits won't treat you well in the future."

"It's alright. I have Aomine-kun to take my place at the poker table now." Aomine blinked as the focus was suddenly shifted to him. Aida narrowed her eyes at him, looking him up and down.

"You'd better make sure to keep Kuroko-kun on the right track," she declared, leaning into his personal space. He nodded dumbly, silently wondering when he'd agreed to become Kuroko's caretaker.

"Do you want a drink?" Kagami broke the tense atmosphere by laying a hand on Aida's shoulder. Immediately, her whole disposition shifted and she smiled coyly up at the redhead.

"That would be very nice, Kagami-kun." Nodding, he ambled off to procure a drink for her. Meanwhile, Izuki and Hyuuga were making gagging noises behind Aomine.

"Why don't you ask him out already," Kiyoshi, Aomine was discovering, didn't believe in beating around the bush. The only woman there threw him a poisonous glare.

"Mind your own business, Kiyoshi."

"So!" Aomine announced louder than necessary. "I think I'll be going back."

"What? No! Stay!" Izuki exclaimed. "You still haven't taken a picture!"

"A picture?" Aomine felt dread settle at the base of his spine.

"Of course! Your face is going up on the wall of fame."

"I don—"

"Don't resist it," Kuroko whispered. "They'll drag you back kicking and screaming."

Gulping, Aomine nodded meekly.


	15. Chapter 15

**Longest chapter yet. I spent an embarrassing amount of time on this. Oh, also, *points to rating* **

**Yes. It is true. I finally caved. You are welcome.**

**I'm glad you enjoyed Poker Night! ;D I had so much fun writing it, even though I got stuck once or twice ahem. Your support means the world to me! All the reviews made me smile so goofily I looked retarded.**

**Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think! **

* * *

"I can't believe you." Aomine winced at the sharp ring of his partner's voice. "When do you intend to grow up and act responsibly?"

"Not so loud," The navy-haired man whispered, the reverberations of his vocal chords seeming to intensify the throbbing in his head. "Please."

Midorima gave him a derisive look. "What kind of example do you think you're setting for the younger generation?"

"I don't have any kids," he replied, finding it slightly difficult to properly process the green-eyed man's words.

"Thank goodness for that," Midorima retorted, still as loud as ever. "Though who knows how many illegal off-springs you've fostered."

Groaning, Aomine buried his head in his hands, rubbing circles into his temple with his thumbs in the vain hope of easing the pain. He knew Midorima was enjoying himself. Not once in their years as partners had the other man ever given up on an opportunity to reprimand him for his actions.

"Only someone as irresponsible and stupid as you would get hung-over on a Tuesday," He was saying, disdain dripping off his words. Aomine didn't have it in him to put up a fight. "Here."

Aomine squinted against the harsh fluorescent light of the restaurant at the object that had been tossed across their table. Gratefully, he took the pair of sunglasses and slipped them on, immediately feeling the sting in his eyes lessen. He turned to look out the window that their table was set against, and eyed the office buildings across the road from them. Meanwhile, Midorima had waved a waiter over and was saying something to them, probably placing an order. Aomine couldn't summon up the interest to tune into the conversation. His head felt stuffed full of cotton and his eardrums were beating an agonizing rhythm with the sounds around him.

He swallowed hard, feeling the sandpaper in his throat scrape together. "S'that it?"

Emerald eyes followed his finger towards the black Audi that had pulled up in front of one of the larger buildings. They watched in silence as a man got out of the vehicle, dressed to the nines in a chauffeur suit. Even from their spot they could tell that the shimmery material of his uniform was top-grade. Shutting the driver's door, he opened the one behind him and bowed slightly with an outstretched hand that a dainty, creamy white hand slipped into.

Fuzzy as his brain was, Aomine still had enough of his wits about him to appreciate the beautiful woman that stepped out of the luxury car with the help of the chauffeur. She was dressed in office wear, a fitted pencil skirt matched a dark gray blazer that showed off her tiny waist and carried a small bag that probably cost as much as his car. The pair watched, completely captivated as she sashayed into the office building.

"What'cha looking at?" The sound of their chairs screeching across the tiled floor turned several heads in the restaurant. Hands pressed to their thumping hearts, the two men struggled to wipe the guilty looks off their faces. Midorima's significant other stood beside their table, bent forward, face sporting a pleasantly enquiring smile. Hastily, Aomine jabbed a thumb behind him.

"Car," he announced intelligently.

"Car?" Takao repeated with a quirk of an eyebrow. He glanced at the parked Audi. "Oh. Car."

"What are you doing here?" Midorima finally spoke up, as he adjusted his glasses, looking less flustered. Takao gave his boyfriend a deadpan look.

"I own the place, Shin-chan. You can't forget something so important just because we haven't seen each other in a while." Aomine choked on a laugh. Takao had always been a good match for the other man. Not only was he able to see through the asshole exterior, he had a level of sarcasm to match the green-eyed man's own.

Midorima turned a slight pink. "You were supposed to be off today, weren't you?"

"Aww, you remembered," Takao pouted pitifully at him. "Wait that means you didn't come here today to see me? Am I the only one feeling lonely at night~?"

Midorima tossed a panicked look at Aomine who was being of absolutely no help with his face buried in his forearms on the table, body rocking with mirth. He straightened, hiccupping slightly from all the laughter and readjusted the sunglasses on his face, feeling in much better spirits.

"We had a lead," he explained, still unable to wipe the wobbly grin off his face. "It was coincidentally right across the street from your place."

"Ah," Takao nodded understandingly. "In that case, stay as long as you want. Oh, and here, something for your hangover. One of the staff told me Shin-chan ordered it for you."

Aomine took the pungent, oddly-coloured drink that was offered with a thank you. Wrinkling his nose, he held his breath and downed it in three large gulps, immediately reaching for the glass of water that Takao placed on the tabletop. He instantly felt much better.

"I'll get someone to send out some food for you two, too." Takao said with a smile as he picked up the empty glasses. He turned to leave and casually tossed back over his shoulder, "She had a really fine ass, didn't she?"

**xx**

"Tetsuya." Blue eyes glanced up from the book he was reading towards the redhead who stood framed in the doorway of his bedroom.

"Yes?" He asked, noting that the latter had shed the crisp black suit that he had arrived in and was dressed in a burrowed shirt and a towel wrapped around his waist. He appreciated seeing his sibling dressed up for work, because there was no denying that Akashi pulled off a tailored suit very well, but he was more comfortable around the other man when he was clothed casually as he was right then. It reminded him of the person he grew up with.

"I am going to take a shower," Akashi declared.

"Okay," Kuroko nodded readily. Akashi gave him a pointed stare. Blinking back, he waited for the man to move. When he remained still, he added helpfully, "Bathroom's down the hall."

"I require your assistance." This time, Akashi's eyes glinted a warning at him. Furrowing his brows, he quirked his head to the side inquisitively.

"With what?"

"Bathing." Came the easy reply, as though it was obvious.

Kuroko blew out a breath. "We're not five anymore, Akashi-kun."

"My shoulders and back ache." It was voiced in a commanding tone, but Kuroko knew that it was Akashi's form of begging. An admittance of feeling discomfort was the closest Akashi had ever been to admitting that he was merely human.

"Then I'll give you a massage once you're out." He returned flippantly. Still, Akashi failed to budge, despite Kuroko resuming his reading as he blatantly ignored the man that stood patiently where he was. The silence dragged on for a while until Kuroko shut the book with a noisy thud and stood up with a grumble. He stalked towards the bathroom, fully aware that his brother was smiling smugly as he tailed after him.

He ran a hot bath, and left Akashi to get in while he prepared a mug of hot tea for the redhead. Akashi could act very much like a spoilt, demanding child whenever he wanted, but Kuroko would never fault him. He'd grumble and complain at the unnecessary things he was made to do, but he did it all anyway because Akashi had spent his childhood before they met being forced to act much too adult for his age, and thus always had trouble grasping ideas such as fun, relaxation, and idle time. Only in recent years had he allowed himself to be occasionally pampered by the bluenette, and it seemed to Kuroko that Akashi was starting to enjoy those occasions much more, even going to the extent of demanding it of him when he didn't feel like offering.

He returned to see Akashi stretched out in the tub, eyes closed as he leaned back against the side. Bright eyes cracked open slowly at the sound of Kuroko's entrance and he wordlessly handed the mug to the redhead. The air was dense with steam from the tub and the scent of a fruity bubble bath that Kuroko had noticed Akashi had liked when they went out shopping together which he had bought on the sly. He'd never commented at the sight of the bottle in Kuroko's bathroom, but Akashi had never used any other soap when he was visiting.

"Do you want me to wash your hair?" Kuroko asked, already pulling the short stool towards the side of the bathtub. Humming, Akashi handed him the bottle of shampoo along with the empty mug and shifted so that his back was propped facing Kuroko. While he worked the shampoo into the blood red strands, he hummed a soft lullaby that his mother used to sing to put the two of them to sleep. Rubbing firm circles into his skin, Kuroko slowly moved his fingers down to Akashi's nape. He massaged the knots in the other man's shoulders with steady pressure, taking the sound of Akashi's breath turning ragged as a good sign.

"Mother is asking about you," At his words, Kuroko stopped humming, but continued to massage, hands spreading out and moving down as his thumbs pressed into the flesh around Akashi's spine.

"Is that so?" He muttered. He felt slightly guilty for not contact his family, but he had been preoccupied the past few months.

"She wants to know when you'll be going back to visit. Father is asking as well." Kuroko paused in his ministrations, a surprised look directed at the back of the bubble-covered head.

Thoughtfully, he replied, "I suppose I'll go back soon, then, if dad is asking as well."

Akashi was silent for a while. Kuroko could sense that he wanted to say something, but was hesitant. "What is it?"

"They want to meet this man of yours."

"Aomine-kun?" Kuroko dipped his hands into the lukewarm water and wiggled them to wash off the soap. "Why?"

"How much do you know about him?" Blue eyes narrowed at the abrupt change in topic.

"Not very much," he conceded, swirling his fingers in the water as he stared at the dispersing bubbles contemplatively. "We haven't been going out for very long."

"In spite of that you told him about me?"

"That was purely coincidental. He wasn't supposed to meet you so soon!" Kuroko protested. "I could hardly let him find out about you and leave him to agonize over it."

"Is that what I am?" Akashi's voice was low, and his eyes were downcast. "A skeleton in your closet?"

A frown scrunched up Kuroko's forehead. Akashi was refusing to meet his eyes. Something was very wrong if Akashi resisted eye contact. He reached a hand out, settling his fingers gently on the back of the other man's head and ruffled the damp strands slightly before suddenly dunking his head in the water. Akashi came up spluttering and looking furiously indignant but his tirade of words was cut off by the thunderous expression on Kuroko's face.

"Don't be stupid," Kuroko snapped sharply, not even completely sure himself why he was so angry. They were _brothers._ Akashi was the first and very best friend he had. He was proud of his sibling, despite the fact that his line of work was questionable. He loved him unconditionally, and even though it had never been voiced by either party, he _knew_ that what he felt was mutual. Akashi remained silent, his expression that of a petulant child.

Struggling against the grinding feeling in his chest, he stood and grabbed the shower head, busying himself with adjusting the temperature of the water while he composed himself. He sat down again and nudged the other's head closer to begin rinsing off the suds. At first his fingers were unnecessarily rough, but he took deep breaths and slowed down, fingers caressing and gentle as they ran all over his scalp.

When he was done Kuroko dropped the shower head into the water with a plunk and waited until Akashi finally looked up to lock eyes with him. As their eyes met, the blue-eyed man felt the anger seep out of him. Akashi had a stubborn quirk to his mouth, but he still looked defenseless, nothing like the crime lord that the rest of the world saw.

"You're my brother," he began softly, stroking fingers brushing up and down the side of Akashi's face lightly. "I can't think of anything that would make me ashamed of you."

Sighing deeply, Akashi nuzzled his palm. "Do you ever think of what might have happened to us if we weren't legally bound this way?"

"Dad would have a fit," Kuroko replied with a grin. "He really wants a grandchild."

Akashi groaned at his words. "I'm not ready for marriage."

"I'm sure anyone would do so long as she doesn't mind you being so childish away from work." Kuroko said, with a casual shrug. There was a sudden yelp. "My clothes!"

Akashi matched his glare with a smirk, hand still hovering over the water where he had scooped and splashed a substantial amount at the latter. "Care to rephrase that?"

"You are such a brat," Kuroko muttered, and dodged most of the second splash of water.

**xx**

Aomine rolled off his sofa with a moan as the shrill ringing of his doorbell jerked him awake from his nap. He cursed slightly at the disheveled state of his clothes and glanced frantically at the clock. He had arrived home three hours ago and had decided on a twenty minute nap to refresh himself. But the sound of his doorbell and the hands on the clock told him that he had overslept. Shit.

Stumbling slightly, he shuffled his way to the door and opened it, mildly horrified to find that he hadn't even remembered to lock it. Smiling sheepishly at the face upturned towards his, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hey Tetsu, c'mon in." He turned sideways to allow the smaller man to enter the apartment. Taking in his state of dishevelment and the lack of food on the dining table, Kuroko smiled amusedly at him.

"Just woke up?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, linking his hands together in front of him like a student being reprimanded. "I slept longer than I thought."

"Well," Kuroko stated. "I guess we should start cooking then?"

**xx**

Aomine wanted to ram his face into a wall. He'd planned an amazing dinner, and was prepared to show off his mad cooking skills that he had learnt up from the multiple women that he had dated previously.

Of course, Kuroko didn't need to know that little tidbit of information.

However, the pale man didn't seem to mind in the least, in fact, he came across as rather pleased, if the way he was humming quietly to himself while he chopped up vegetable was any indication. Aomine disappeared into his bedroom to change his clothes and to freshen up a bit, feeling grateful that his hair was so short that it'd be humanly impossible to mess it up.

"How hung-over were you?" Kuroko asked over his shoulder when he emerged feeling more put together. The hangover had dissipated, thankfully, but he was traumatized and had vowed to never _ever_ listen to Kuroko's friends when they dared him to try drinking Kuroko under the table. He already knew it was a crazy idea, but the strange smile that Kuroko had playing about his lips had lulled him into the trap. He'd ended up not only under the table, but had woken up feeling like he'd spent a month buried in a coffin.

"Told my partner I loved him this morning," Aomine replied. It had not gone well. He was still somewhat drunk at the time of the call, and when Midorima berated him for not turning up at work, he'd apparently told him that his obsession with punctuality was rather endearing and that he loved him and hoped he would never change. All Aomine recalled was that he'd been woken up by a furious looking goblin with flashing green eyes busting into his room and violently kicking him off his bed onto the ground with a very painful crack of his spine.

Kuroko looked at him enquiringly and it dawned on him that the smaller man didn't know Midorima. He reworded the sentence. "Very hung-over."

"I never knew that Aomine-kun was so good at cards." He had returned to chopping up the vegetables. Aomine procured a wok and set it on the stove to begin cooking.

"It's nothing special. I just picked up a few tricks here and there over the years."

"But I'm not satisfied losing," Aomine glanced over to see the most adorable pout he'd ever seen. "That money was supposed to be for the frying pan."

"I'll give it to you," he replied as he began tossing in the veggies. "I wasn't gonna keep any of it, anyway."

Kuroko paused, knife hovering over a carrot as he considered Aomine thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"

"You can't say I won it fair and square," he pointed out.

"Still, you won it."

"Nah, I played just for you." Crap. That came out sounding cornier than he'd intended. He flashed a devilish smile at Kuroko as a cover up, wondering if he was still drunk.

Laughing, Kuroko said, "How about we have a one-on-one match for it?"

The taller man crooked an eyebrow. "Is cheating allowed?"

"When is it ever?" Kuroko snorted. He suddenly snapped his fingers as a thought hit him. Eyes lit up with excitement, he jabbed the knife at Aomine who jerked back, wide-eyed. "Strip poker!"

"I – what?" Aomine stared at him, not sure if he heard wrong.

"Strip poker!" Kuroko was sounding way too happy about the idea. Though, it wasn't like he was going to complain about it. "Last one standing gets all the cash."

"You're serious about that?" Aomine asked hesitantly, gulping silently as images flashed through his mind.

"Why not," Kuroko asked with a shrug. "It'll be fun!"

Fun wasn't the issue. He could vouch for fun. There would undeniably be a lot of it. Actually, Aomine couldn't really find any problem with the idea at all, but it was probably a biased opinion. No, the issue was that he doubted he would be able to keep to himself while Kuroko sat across him in increasing states of undress.

"You do realize that there's no way I'm gonna play fair now." He said pointedly.

Kuroko looked up at him, expression sultry and wicked, making Aomine wonder what kind of saint he must have been in his past life to get himself a guy like Kuroko. "Good."

**xx**

"You're not even trying," Aomine merely grunted in reply to the taunting remark as he undid the last two buttons on his shirt and shrugged it off. Because both men had been dressed in few pieces of clothing, Kuroko had suggested that they removed the articles of clothing in stages rather than a piece at a go. And because he was a blasted masochist, he had readily agreed.

He had won the first three rounds, but had lost the last five. Thus, it was that Kuroko sat opposite him, shirt undone down to the third button, and his own torso was bared with no protection against the chill in the room. It was okay, though, he was steadily heating up. He was trying, he really was, not due to the money, but because he wanted to get Kuroko undressed and in his bed as soon as possible.

Aomine was distracted. It was as simple as that. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the tantalizing expanse of alabaster skin that hinted at so much more. He ran a hand across his face in a show of rubbing his nose to make sure that he wasn't salivating. Taking a deep breath, he shoveled all the perverted thoughts out of his head and focused on the cards he held. He wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Kuroko was totally aware that he was a source of distraction for the other man. He had made a show of analyzing his cards carefully, but had really been concentrating on the dark eyes that stared at him unabashedly. He'd taken advantage of that, pulling back his collar to scratch seemingly absent-mindedly at his collarbone. The bluenette had been enjoying himself immensely, even more so now that Aomine was shirtless and everything seemed to flex with each movement he made.

Yet, seeing the exposed tan skin, Kuroko was starting to worry as he began to get lost in fantasies and he had to force himself to remain on track. He was not going to be the first to snap.

The game went on, tense and silent, as both men ogled at the other when they thought they wouldn't be caught. It wasn't long until Kuroko found himself without a shirt too, and he would have felt less conscious about it if not for the utterly lecherous grin that didn't leave Aomine's face while he shed the piece of clothing. Revenge came quickly for him, though, as he cheated his way through the next two rounds and the taller man had to remove his belt and one pants leg, resulting in a strange combo of comical and suggestive.

Neither of them was playing fair, and if anyone were to look closely at the cards scattered between them, there'd be a number of questions asked. The clock on the wall showed that it was just after ten, and both men were struggling to retain their self-control.

"Looks like you're losing this game," Kuroko mentioned, as he picked up the new batch of cards. Aomine snorted in answer.

"Don't get your hopes up so soon." He shot back, as he arranged his cards carefully.

"I have every right to," blue eyes flashed mischievously at him. "You're almost out of clothes to lose."

Aomine laughed at that. He'd never found trash talking to be so provocative before. "You're not far behind."

Kuroko hummed, laying down his cards face up. "I really want that cash."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait a bit longer for it," Aomine returned with a smirk, as he put down his cards triumphantly.

Kuroko stared at the hand. "You cheated."

"Are we really going there?" He asked drily, leaning back on an arm. The motion drew pale blue eyes to his body, and Kuroko didn't seem so upset anymore. Standing up, the petite man wiggled out of his jeans and discarded them somewhere in the vicinity of the sofa. Aomine stared at him, dumbfounded.

"It's getting late," Kuroko said in answer to the unvoiced question. "We should end the game quickly."

The dark-skinned man fisted his hand. The unaffected tone of his voice when he spoke belied the queasy anticipation he felt. "Fine by me."

Reaching down, he tugged on the bottom end of his shorts, and easily pulled it off his leg. They eyed each other, the challenge issued and received. The air fizzled with tension, so much more intense than the night before had been. Silence dripped around them, occasionally disturbed by the rustling of the cards as they were shuffled and distributed. A unanimous agreement silently made between them, they placed their cards face up simultaneously, eyes focused on the other's hand.

The atmosphere around them snapped and disappeared as Kuroko threw his hands up and whooped in victory and began to dance. Aomine laughed until his sides ached at the ridiculous bopping movements of the smaller man and allowed himself to be bowled over as Kuroko threw himself delightedly at him.

"You cheated!" Aomine accused laughingly.

Kuroko leveled himself away to give him a droll look. "Are we really going there?"

"I'll let it go if you give me a kiss," he bargained with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. Kuroko shook his head at him but kissed him nonetheless. It was brief, nothing more than a meeting of their lips and Aomine made a face as he pulled away. "That all you got? That ain't a fair trade for letting you win."

"You didn't let me win," Kuroko protested.

"Sure, I'll let you believe that." Aomine nodded condescendingly.

"Asshole," Kuroko muttered in retort and stopped any words he might have prepared in answer with a searing kiss that was planets away from the one earlier. Their tongues tangled together in a tango, and roaming hands traveled over expanses of skin that had been tormenting them for the past few hours. Aomine leaned forward to push Kuroko into his carpet and press himself against the delicate frame. He bit at the skin below Kuroko's ear, garnering a jolt and a moan that had his temperature rising.

He trailed down the body, worshipping the unblemished skin with fluttery kisses and well-placed nips. He was forced to stop his exploration as Kuroko's knees came up to lock against his sides. Dark eyes looked up questioningly. Kuroko was flushed, pale eyes hooded and his breath coming out in harsh bursts.

"Want you now," he said hoarsely, the urgency in the smaller man's voice making a chill run down his spine. Rocking back on his knees, he grabbed the sides of Kuroko's boxer shorts and slipped them off, doing the same with his own. Looming over the other man again, he captured those pale, soft lips in a heated kiss as he reached overhead to grab at one of the cups of water on the coffee table that they had been drinking from earlier. Carefully, he maneuvered the object onto the ground beside him and dipped his free hand in it.

Running wet fingers down Kuroko's body drew out moans as the cold liquid made contact with hot skin. Aomine bit down on the flesh of Kuroko's shoulder just as he nudged a finger in him. The body below him convulsed, and Kuroko dug his fingers painfully into taller man's shoulder blades as he let out a strangled cry.

Their breaths mingling, Kuroko fisted a hand in Aomine's hair and pulled him down for a demanding kiss as the latter added another finger, scissoring motions stretching his insides. His whole body was wound up, and unbelievably sensitized from all the teasing. When a finger found his sweet spot, his body tensed up, and he threw out his arms, fingers frantically trying to find purchase in something before he recalled that they weren't on the bed.

Aomine ran his tongue over a taunt nipple, and rolled it between his teeth as he marveled at the throaty sounds the smaller man was making. He was already incredibly high-strung himself, but he wanted to enjoy the look of wanton abandonment on Kuroko's face just a little bit longer.

"Stop teasing," Kuroko huffed, eyes glazed over with desire. In response, Aomine crooked his fingers and watched in fascination as the pale body arched upwards. He didn't have it in him to tease much more. Withdrawing his fingers, he planted his hands on either side of Kuroko's head and pushed into him slowly, stretching him more. Despite the prepping, he was tight and hot, the familiar feel of him wrapped around Aomine making him moan. It took effort not to give in to the urge to thrust fast and hard into him, but he ground his teeth and waited until Kuroko's breathing evened out a bit.

Pulling back almost completely, he thrust forward, earning a loud gasp. Digging his knees into the rough material of the carpet, he thrust in harder and faster, leaning over Kuroko and locking their lips together, drinking in every sound he made. Slim legs wrapped tight around his upper back, allowing his thrusts to go deeper and changing the tone of Kuroko's cries as he slammed into his prostate repeatedly.

His breathing was ragged, and Kuroko's voice was pitched higher as he slipped their hands together. He was teetering on the edge and he knew that Kuroko was, too. With one final thrust, Kuroko's body convulsing and tightening around him drew out his own release, and he felt his arms wobble and give under him. Kuroko's legs slid off his back to thud limply on the ground and he let out a huff of breath as Aomine fell on top of him.

They remained like that in silence for a while, both trying hard to calm their beating hearts.

"Should get to the bed." Aomine's voice was muffled by the carpet his face was planted in.

"Unff," Kuroko mumbled as fatigue and contentment washed over him. "Let's just stay here."

"Not good," Aomine said as he turned his head sideways to be better heard. "What if a robber comes in?"

"It's okay, you're a cop."

"I don't think a naked cop instills much fear." He retorted, prompting a giggle.

"Fine. But you're going to have to carry me. I can't feel my legs." Aomine made a face at him and rolled off with a grunt. Kuroko lifted his head slightly, wriggling his toes with a look of exaggerated surprise. "Oh look, there they are!"

Aomine grabbed a pillow from the sofa and dropped it unceremoniously onto Kuroko's face, muffling his laughter. He glanced around at the chaos that was once his living room.

"Should I clean up?" he mused out loud.

"Do it tomorrow. I need my heat bolster."

"What the hell is that?" Aomine raised an eyebrow in askance at the man sitting up, pillow in his lap.

"You, of course," Kuroko replied instantly with a roll of his eyes. And for good measure he added, "Dummy."

"I won't let you win next time," Dark eyes narrowed at him threateningly.

Kuroko snorted up at him. "You didn't let me win."

"Okay then," he said, the easy agreement making Kuroko look at him in surprise. "But you can crawl to the bedroom yourself."

He ducked just in the nick of time as the pillow flew towards his face. Laughing, he sauntered off to the room, feeling incredibly light-hearted and gleefully ignoring the names that followed him.

* * *

**Oh, and I ate a banana while I wrote a part of this with one hand. No, it's not the part you're thinking about. Perverts.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So, school's started for me again. That means even more infrequent updates. Sorries ;-; I'll _try_ to put them up on the weekends, but we all know just how reliable a promise like that is. **

**I'm ecstatic that you like the AkaKuro hints hahaha. I am personally dying at all the different feels. All the ships. I just want this to be a harem. Also, thank you all for the lovely reviews! =D You guys made my day. Again. **

**And nope, I can't conjure up anything extra I need to mention, so! **

**Enjoy and let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Aomine-san." The said man looked up from his computer screen at the source of the urgent voice with a questioning glance. One of the clerks who manned the front of the station stood beside his desk, arms clasped in front of her and looking very obviously flustered.

"S'up?" he asked, leaning back against his chair. Opposite him, Midorima's desk was empty, as the green-eyed man had upped and disappeared into the shadowy recesses of the archive vault in search of material that Aomine wasn't really sure they needed.

"There was a lady that came in and she was very worked up. We've tried talking to her, but nothing any of us says will stop her crying and get her to explain to us what is going on," the clerk sped up as she went along, looking increasingly frantic at the thought of the new arrival. She shot him a pleading look. "Will you please talk to her?"

"Sure." He returned with a reassuring smile. He leaned around her to look at the front of the station, frowning at the lack of drama that a sobbing woman usually brought along with her. "Where is she?"

"We placed her in one of the interview rooms upstairs. She was starting to scare the others." She replied, sounding much calmer now that he had taken the wheel.

With a nod, Aomine stood up, scribbled something on a yellow memo and stretched over to stick it on the screen of his partner's computer. He grinned at the mildly curious look that the clerk gave him. "He throws a fit when he misses me."

Laughing slightly, the clerk nodded in understanding and returned to the front of the building, her steps distinctively lighter.

The navy-haired man made his way slowly up the flight of stairs that led to a floor lined with doors on both sides. At the other end of the hallway were a bunch of interrogation rooms, while the rooms closest to the stairs were interview rooms that were furnished a bit more cozily so as to not scare away victims or witnesses. He stopped in front of the only closed door, deducing that the frantic lady would be in there. He knocked loudly four times, slowly, and gave her time to compose herself before he turned the knob.

Letting the door swing open, he forgot his professionalism for a second as his eyes widened as he recognized the woman seated at the couch, looking fearful. Quickly, he blinked himself out of it and sent her a pleasant smile. Casually, he leaned against the door frame, making sure to remain outside, so that she wouldn't feel as though he was encroaching on her personal space. "Is there anything I can get you?"

She stared at him, bright brown eyes cautious. "P-Pardon me?"

"You could probably use a couple of drinks, but since we're at a police station, alcohol is out of the question. Coffee or tea? Water?" He kept up the friendly vibe, and was pleased to notice that her shoulders became less tense at his offer.

"Water would be nice, thank you."

"Got it. I'll be right back with it," he turned down the hallway, pulling the door behind him but leaving it slightly ajar. He filled a cup with water from the dispenser there, and on second thought, filled up another. When he walked into the room, the lady was looking much more put together. It wouldn't have been a surprise to him if she had touched up her makeup hastily while he was on the errand.

"So," he began, placing both cups in front of her. "Do you feel any better?"

Long eyelashes brushed against the creamy skin. Aomine had gotten good at judging how thick a woman's makeup was just from a glance. For a beauty like her, she didn't need much, but there was still a layer of powder that hid small inconsistencies in her skin. He caught himself thinking that Kuroko's skin was in so much better condition, and he probably did little more than wash his face.

"They must think I'm really weird." Her expression was sheepish and slightly forlorn. "It's just that I've been holding back all this while and when I got here and they started asking all these questions that I couldn't answer, I got frustrated and everything just spilled out."

She inhaled deeply, staring fixatedly on the cups in front of her. Dark eyes studied her profile in silence for a while as he considered his options.

"Since I want to avoid upsetting you by asking questions you don't know the answer to," he stated. "Why don't you tell me what questions are alright to ask?"

"I—" she stopped suddenly, and reached into her bag, procuring a small brown envelope that was unmarked. She handed it over to Aomine, evidently glad to be free of the burden. Silently, he accepted the package and shook out the contents.

The envelope was full of photographs. All of them of the woman that sat across from him, sipping delicately on her drink, the shiver in her hand almost imperceptible. The photos were taken at various times, as was obvious from the different outfits she wore in all of them. Angles varied, too, along with time of day. There were maybe three hundred of them, but what made him pause were the last few photos.

The photos were taken from an angle to the right of where she was facing, body poised in a pose best suited to showing off a swimsuit. She smiled charmingly at the camera positioned directly in front of her, and shifted occasionally, actions which were all captured in the photos Aomine held. When he reached the last one, he slipped them back into the envelope and looked up to see her watching him somewhat apprehensively.

"May I keep this?" She nodded in reply, twiddling with the Styrofoam cup she held, having finished the water in both of them. "When did they arrive?"

"Yesterday morning," she said. "I didn't have the time to look at them until this morning though."

"Anything like this happened before?"

She shook her head. "I keep my personal life low-key. Only people close to me know where I live, and the security in my building knows to not let anyone up unless I say it's fine."

"Was this the envelope it arrived in?"

"Yes. It was in front of my door, not in the postbox."

"Didn't you find it suspicious that it was in front of your door?" Aomine asked, trying hard not to make it sound like he was berating her.

She shook her head, "Sometimes my manager gets the security to drop things off in front of my door when he's in a rush."

"Why not the postbox?"

"He's concerned that stalkers would somehow get to them since the postbox is in a communal area."

"I see," he mumbled thoughtfully. He reached into it and pulled out the pictures of her photoshoot. "Did you see anyone taking pictures of you during that photoshoot?"

"No," she said, looking downcast. "I didn't see anyone with a camera or a phone. And taking pictures is prohibited."

"I see," he repeated. Flipping the package he held around a few times, he squinted at it with pursed lips while he deliberated on the next step to take.

"That," dark eyes looked up at her hesitant words. "That isn't by that serial killer that's been killing models lately, is it?"

Aomine struggled against the urge to sit himself down beside the shaken woman and give her a comforting shoulder to cry on. God only knew that in all the previous times he'd given in to the entices of women it hadn't ended well for him. Also, though it was a ridiculous thought, he felt like he'd be cheating on Kuroko. He wasn't used to dating just one person at a time, so he wasn't sure what constituted cheating. Maybe he'd ask Satsuki the next time they met up.

"What makes you say that?" The tan detective worked to keep up his unruffled expression, knowing that what she wanted was reassurance but unsure whether he could give it to her in words.

"I don't know," she looked down again, fingers trembling much more evidently now. "I-I'm a model, so…"

"I can't give you anything concrete," Aomine began, deciding that the best course was to not lie. "But it doesn't look like what he usually does."

"So it's not him?" Shit. The stars in her eyes could blind a man. He wondered if she'd be upset if she found out that he was stretching the truth.

"Like I said, I can't give you a definite yes or no," it seemed all those years having multiple girlfriends were finally coming to some fruition. "But just in case it is a really fanatical stalker, I think you should call your manager and tell him what happened and ask him to come pick you up. Do you have relatives staying nearby?"

"My parents stay in the countryside, and I have a brother living in the city."

"Okay," Aomine said with a nod. "Go to your parents'. You should take a couple of months off. Modeling can be stressful."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, looking like she wanted to say something. Aomine had spent enough of his life around the opposite sex to guess what they were thinking most of the time. He still had to work on decrypting them when they were angry, though.

Pulling a small name card case from his back pocket, he pulled out a pristine white card that had the police's logo imprinted on it along with his name and contact details. Flipping it around, he scribbled down his personal phone number.

"The numbers on the front are to my line in the station and the front." He informed her as he held it out. "In case something urgent comes up or you can't get through the other lines, that's my personal phone on the back."

"Thank you," the respite in her voice was almost palpable, and made him feel light-hearted. Aomine gave her a dazzling smile.

"Anything for a beautiful woman. You should call your manager." The woman nodded blindly, the look she directed at him making him slightly uncomfortable. Had that smile been too suggestive?

Aomine stood up abruptly, the sudden urge to take to his heels slamming into him. "I'll give you the room. Make sure you check out with the front desk on your way out."

**xx**

"Yo, Midorima," Aomine greeted as he approached his desk. The emerald-eyed man had returned from the vault looking whole, along with an alarming stack of files that looked like they would disintegrate at a touch.

"Ahomine," he returned coldly. Holding up the memo that Aomine had stuck to his computer screen earlier, he intoned flatly, "What kind of joke was this?"

"What? I didn't want you yelling at me for lazing around."

"Going to check on damsel in distress. Don't worry, won't do anything. Don't miss me while I'm gone." Midorima's voice was soulless, as was the look he leveled at Aomine.

"So?"

"You do realize that 'xoxo' means hugs and kisses, right?"

"I figured you could use a few."

"Please don't," Midorima nudged up the spectacles on the bridge of his nose with a tired sigh. "I do not want to be associated with you in such a way."

"Bastard," Aomine shot back with a grin, too used to the barb in the other's words to be ruffled by it. "And I was trying to be nice, too."

"As I said, please don't. It is disgusting."

"Okay, okay," the tan man held out his hands in surrender. "I'll continue being a jackass like you."

At the condescending nod he received in return, Aomine wondered whether the relationship they shared could ever be considered normal.

"What is that?" Midorima questioned, pointing to the brown envelope Aomine held.

"Oh," The envelope was tossed onto the open file Midorima had in front of him. "Our guy's getting worse."

Frown creasing his forehead, Midorima shook the contents out into his hand. His eyes widened slightly behind the glasses, and his head shot up to lock eyes with Aomine's. "This is that lady we saw that day outside Takao's café?"

Nodding, Aomine pulled a random file from the pile beside Midorima towards himself. If he didn't get a start on it they'd both be there until dawn. Midorima shifted through the photos, looking extremely perturbed. When he reached the last few photos, like Aomine had, he paused and considered them critically.

"He's stalking his prey now?"

"That's not the worst of it." Aomine stated with a grimace. "He let her _know_ that he was watching her."

The green-haired man cursed. "But how do you know that it's him and not a crazed fan?"

"Gut feeling," Aomine returned with a shrug. "There's one good thing out of this, though."

Midorima looked at him, eyebrow raised in silent askance. Aomine leaned forward conspirationally. "We know who the target is this time."

"Excuse me," The two men glanced up to see the clerk from earlier standing beside their desks. "There are three women in front who say that they're being stalked, and they want to see someone."

Dumbfounded, it took a while for either of the men to process a legible answer. Midorima recovered quicker. "Why are you coming to us?"

"They all claim to be models." She replied, glancing nervously between them as they shared a dismayed look.

"Idiot," Midorima snarled at Aomine.

"What did I do?" he burst out in protest.

"You spoke too soon." Sighing, green eyes returned to the waiting clerk. "Take them all upstairs and put them in separate interview rooms. We'll see them in turn."

**xx**

"Shit!" Midorima didn't look up from the paperwork he was bent over at the expletive his partner let out in frustration. Aomine groaned, rubbing his tired eyes with the heels of his palms. "Three more sets. Does this guy have a fucking cloning machine?"

"It could have started months ago. Perhaps he kept the pictures he took of his previous victims." The green-haired man's voice was calm, but Aomine knew that he was exhausted as well. They had both stayed back long after everyone had left, and it was already turning into a new day.

"Maybe this is why he took those cameras," Aomine mused, folding his arms atop the desk and pillowing his head in them. He stared off into space, trying to connect the dots in his head.

"Why cameras, though?" The dark-haired man wondered aloud.

"Trophies, perhaps?" Midorima suggested, highlighting something in the report by one of the women they had spoken to earlier in the day. "He targets women who are in front of cameras constantly."

"It doesn't feel right," came the muttered response. Aomine stared at the picture of the destroyed living room of the latest case clipped to the inside flap of the open file in front of him. "Why is he so angry?"

"Starlight Agency." The tan man looked up in question to see that his partner held the report he had been analyzing in front of his face. Index finger stabbing at the highlighted words that Midorima had just read out loud, the green-eyed man said, "They're all models from the same agency."

Aomine felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Are you sure?"

"It says so on all their reports. That building we saw the Audi in front of is where the agency is located as well." The other detective almost sounded excited about the discovery. Aomine cursed loudly, the apparent distress on his face making Midorima worry too. "What?"

"That's Satsuki's agency."

**xx**

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko's hair looked thoroughly tussled, and his eyes were still slightly droopy from the sleep that he had been shocked out of when his doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already well past two in the morning. Wordlessly, Aomine wrapped his bulk around the much smaller frame, arms folded so tight that he was practically touching his own sides with opposing hands. The side of Kuroko's face was pressed against the taller man's chest, the muscles solid and warm. The heart below the tan skin was beating at a worrying rate. "What's wrong?"

There was an answer mumbled into his shoulder. "What was that?"

"I went for a run." Kuroko craned his head as much as his neck would go to stare at the side of the other man's head, looking flabbergasted.

"At this time?"

"I couldn't sleep," Aomine finally released the death grip and straightened with a groan. For the first time, Kuroko noticed that he was dressed in a sweater and running shorts.

"Are you an idiot?" he exclaimed before he could completely absorb the situation. His brain was sleep-addled, and he wasn't used to having hot men he dated showing up at his door in the middle of the night dressed in clothes that were not appropriate for the weather with sweat running down their face. It didn't subtract from the hotness, though. In fact, it rather enhanced it, the sight of droplets of sweat trailing down the column of Aomine's neck, and the way his chest rose and fell with the harsh breaths…

"Ow!" Aomine winced as slim fingers pinched his arm. "What-?"

"At least wear proper clothes." Kuroko wasn't going to apologize. It was Ahomine's own fault that he was starting to get turned on. It was the middle of the night! Mid-week! "It's almost winter."

"Ah, it's fine," Aomine dismissed his words with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "My body heats up from the exercise."

And he came here especially to heat Kuroko up as well? The blue-eyed man bit back the words. Aomine wasn't looking at him with any lust in his expression. He was probably just getting worked up by himself. Swinging around, he padded back to his bedroom.

"Go take a shower before you come to bed," he threw curtly over his shoulder. At least it would afford him some time to calm himself down.

Aomine stared after the retreating back confusedly. Had he said something wrong? Making his way into the bathroom, he shed his clothes, the motions automatic as he wondered what he could have done to irritate the smaller man. It wasn't reasonable to get so worked up over him wearing shorts. It couldn't be the time, the neighbourhood was pretty safe, even at night. As the water streamed down, he continued to ponder, his thoughts slowly shifting towards the case that he and Midorima were currently working on.

He had wanted to ring Satsuki up the second they confirmed that she was signed under the same agency as the other women, but Midorima had halted him. He had a valid point when he said that waking her up in the middle of the night to scare her wasn't a good idea. Especially speaking over the phone. After some consideration, Aomine had accepted Midorima's offer to go visit her in the morning and explain it thoroughly to her. Yet, his mind had been unable to rest, and there was an uneasy feeling that supplied him with an endless amount of nervous energy.

Having swept and cleaned every available surface in his apartment, Aomine had decided to go for a run when he still couldn't calm down enough to feel fatigue. His feet had led him, and he hadn't realized where he was until he was about to ring Kuroko's doorbell.

He turned off the shower, but remained standing there for a moment longer, still lost in thought. After he had dried himself off it finally dawned on him that he didn't have any clothes to change into. His running outfit was soaked in sweat, and Kuroko's clothes were probably too small for him to fit into. He ran a hand over his face in frustration. The day was over and it still sucked.

Shrugging to himself, he wrapped the towel around his waist and made his way into the bedroom. It was dark, and the form curled up on one side of the bed was completely still in slumber. Gingerly, he crawled into bed, trying hard not to move too much in order to avoid waking up the other man. Carefully, he slid forward until his body curved around Kuroko's and slipped his arm around the petite waist.

The relieved sigh he let out ruffled the sky blue strands, and he nuzzled the top of Kuroko's head gently, feeling the tenseness in his shoulders dissipate. At last, exhaustion was starting to seep into his bones, and the unexplainable anxiety he had felt the whole day seemed to just disappear. Calmness washed over him, making him glad that he had unconsciously made his way to Kuroko's place. He had never appreciated the calming effect the pale man had on others as much as he did right then.

"Aomine-kun?" Kuroko's voice was soft, and he almost didn't catch it. Aomine hummed in response.

"Why are you not wearing anything?"

"I didn't bring a change of clothes."

Kuroko was silent for a while, and when he spoke again his voice was slightly miffed. "You should just leave some here."

Aomine's eyes widened in the darkness. Leave his clothes here? It was the first time he'd been in a relationship long enough to even consider such a move.

The pale shoulder in front of his shifted a little. "Aomine-kun?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, feeling his throat dry up. "I'll bring some over tomorrow."

"Okay," a slim arm reached down and tugged at the other's until Aomine shifted closer. "Good night."

Still shell-shocked at the concept of having agreed to what amounted to a commitment in Aomine's books, his reply was feeble. "Good night."

What was even more surprising, however, was the light, fluttery feeling in his chest when he thought of leaving his belongings in Kuroko's apartment.

* * *

**There was too much fluff, we need some people dying, I mean, this is a touch of a crime fic as well. **

**... I couldn't resist just a pinch of fluff though. **


	17. Chapter 17

**I tried, and therefore no one should criticize me. I confess that the first part of this was written when I was in a pretty dazed frame of mind, so I hope that it doesn't seem completely retarded. I don't know, I should probably change it. Maybe in the near future if I can bring myself to do it mnf.**

**Spoiler alert; no one dies. Yet. We need to build anticipation so that you will be more devastated when it happens. *cue evil laughter* I'm sorry, I get more sadistic when I'm tired. School's been interesting. **

**I apologize if this doesn't seem up to par. I'm not very happy with it, honestly. A cleaned up version may or may not be uploaded some time from now.**

**As always, enjoy and lemme know what you think!**

* * *

"Sensei?"

Coming to his senses, Kuroko glanced down at the tiny figure that had been tugging at the hem of his shirt for the last few minutes in a futile effort to gain his attention.

"Sensei, are you okay?" Mustering a small smile, he nodded reassuringly at the child.

"I was just thinking about something," he explained as he crouched down so that he was at eye-level with a pair of golden eyes. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Did Aomine-san forget about me?" Taken aback, Kuroko blinked at Ryouko's words.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he promised that he'd come and teach me basketball but he hasn't come yet." Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she looked so dejected that Kuroko wanted to promise her that she could keep Aomine locked up for eternity so that he would teach her basketball whenever she wanted.

Reaching out, he ruffled her hair comfortingly, and felt his heart crack at every small sob she tried to hold back. He hadn't realized how attached she had become to the tan man in the short time they had spent together. Finally, she looked up at him, eyes swimming with unshed tears. His own smile was jerky, but he knew that she most likely wouldn't notice it with the way her vision was clouded.

"Aomine-san didn't forget about you. He's just really busy at work."

"R-Really?"

"Yup!" He returned with an enthusiasm he didn't feel.

Considering his words carefully, she stared at her shoes in silence for a bit, occasionally reaching up to wipe away the tears that overflowed. When she looked at him again, there was a curious pursing of her lips. "Policeman work is really difficult, isn't it?"

"It is," Kuroko agreed, thinking back to the night before when the dark-haired man had appeared at his door in the wee hours of the morning and then had left just as the sun's rays were breaking through the dense darkness outside. "It's very stressful."

"Why does he do it then?" She queried.

"Well," he mused thoughtfully. It wasn't like they had discussed why Aomine had gone into that profession. The only thing he was absolutely sure about was that the other man was perfect for the job. Regardless of his personal faults. "Someone has to."

**xx**

"Yo. We brought breakfast." Satsuki stared blearily at the two men in front of her door, wondering for a moment if she was having one of those harem-themed dreams that left her feeling guilty in the morning.

"Dai-kun? Midorin? What's going on?" It was barely seven in the morning, and she had a photoshoot later in the day. Something had to have happened for both of them to show up unannounced.

"We need to talk." Midorima said. "May we come in?"

"Sure…" she moved out of the way to allow them room to pass. Shutting the door after them, she gestured towards the kitchen. "I'll go freshen up a bit. Help yourselves to the coffee. Dai-kun should remember where everything is."

With that, she disappeared into a room further down the hallway. The two detectives busied themselves with setting the table, unpacking the multiple buns and pastries they had purchased from a bakery near the station before they had made their way over to the pink-haired model's home. Silence filled in the gaps between them, familiar and companionable. However, there was also an anticipation that flickered in the air around them. Both knew that this was the calm before the storm.

When Momoi reappeared with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and looking much more awake, the trio settled down and dug into the pastry of their choice.

"So," she began, munching on a powdered donut. "What's this about?"

"It's about the case we're working on." Midorima replied, dunking a chocolate covered croissant into his coffee. His companions didn't comment. The green-eyed man had always had strange habits. "We have a request for you."

"Request?" Momoi looked apprehensively between their impassive faces.

"We want you to get out of the limelight for a while." Aomine explained.

"What? I can't do that!" The untouched half of her donut was dropped unceremoniously onto her plate. "I have a party this Friday!"

"We know," Aomine interjected. "And I know it's a big deal, but you need to take a break from modeling."

Momoi pursed her lips in thought as she considered her coffee mug. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's getting worse. We can't tell you anything because this is an ongoing investigation, but right now, the odds are not in your favour." Midorima admitted frankly.

Looking up with a frown, she said, "But I can't cancel on this party. It's too late; all the arrangements have been made."

The two detectives shared a look between them. Aomine leaned forward. "We'll compromise. After that party, you take a while off."

"How long is a while?"

"At most, it'll be a month."

"A month?" She exclaimed, horrified. "My Dior shoot begins in two weeks. I can't give up something that big!"

"Satsuki," Aomine's voice was urgent, and he waited for her to meet his eyes before he spoke again. "Your career is not more important than your life."

**xx**

"Good day," Two pairs of eyes looked up at the chirpy greeting. Standing in the doorway to the small room that Aomine and Midorima occupied stood a man of around average height with a shock of brown hair and half-moon spectacles, smile expectant. The detectives shared a questioning look. This was not the person they had requested to meet. The man let out an embarrassed chuckle at the confused looks on their faces. "As I expected, Aomine-san and Midorima-san don't recognize me."

"I'm sorry," Midorima said politely. "Who are you?"

"Ah," the newcomer rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Kou Shougo."

"Oh!" Aomine stabbed a finger at him when the name clicked with a memory in his rusted brain. "You went out with Satsuki!"

Kou nodded enthusiastically, evidently pleased that he was still remembered. "It isa surprise seeing you two here."

"I could say the same," Midorima replied, a smile he usually reserved for people other than Aomine gracing his lips. "What are you doing in a modeling agency?"

"I work here. I'm in the marketing department downstairs." He explained.

"Oh yeah," Aomine mused. "Satsuki told me that you two met at work."

"That's right," Kou nodded again. Suddenly, he looked rather uncomfortable. "So, uh, how is Momoi-san?"

"Eh? Don't you see her around?" Aomine asked in surprise, yelping at the heel that landed on his toes. Dark eyes glared daggers at his partner who looked as though nothing had happened.

"She's doing fine," Midorima responded, tossing a cold glance at Aomine. "I'll be sure to pass along your regards."

"Sure, thanks," he returned with a thankful smile. Just as quickly as before, he brightened up. "So, what brings you to Starlight? Planning to audition?"

Aomine laughed heartily at that. "No, we're here to see someone about an investigation."

"I see," Kou snapped his fingers as something dawned on him. "Could it be about that serial killer?"

"Yes," Midorima answered with a raised eyebrow. Catching the look from the green-eyed detective, Kou shrugged carelessly.

"Since we manage models all employees are encouraged to keep up to date about the case." He elaborated. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see a well-dressed man approaching from the elevators, flanked by two bodyguards and a secretary. "The President is here. I'll see you two around."

Waving, he turned on his heels and vanished as quickly as he had appeared. The man that took Kou's place was short and stubby, and in addition to a fondness of expensive clothing, had a taste for outrageous jewelry.

"Gentlemen," he greeted, voice as greasy as his hair. "I hear that this matter is urgent."

"Good morning, President," Midorima replied politely as the duo stood and bowed slightly. "Indeed, this is a delicate matter. We were hoping to be able to speak to you in private."

The President nodded compliantly, and with a wave, dismissed his entourage who took a few steps back and shut the door behind him. "This concerns the serial killer?"

"Yes." Aomine said as Midorima pulled out a file marked with the word 'confidential' in block letters across the front. "We believe he is targeting models of this agency."

"Only my models?" The President asked with a dubious look. "Why is that so?"

"Profiling indicates that he has history with someone within the agency, likely a model, but for reasons unknown is unable to touch her, therefore he is taking his rage out on easier targets. It could be any sort of relationship, perhaps a difficult break-up or an unpleasant experience as a fan." Midorima stated. He pushed the file across the table towards the President. "These are the reports of the latest targets. It seems that he is now stalking his prey, meaning that he has gone past killing in anger, and has evolved into planned and calculated murders."

"You mean he is enjoying this?" The President looked concernedly at them.

Nodding, Aomine said, "Yes. We have four potential victims now, and all of them are from within your organization."

The President was starting to sweat, and he pulled out a monogramed handkerchief to wipe away the perspiration on his brows before he replied. "What do you suggest I do?"

"We believe the best course of action to take is to withdraw them from the limelight for the time-being."

"That will do," he agreed readily. He glanced again at the names listed on top of the reports and frowned at them. "These three will be no problem at all, but Mari is one of our biggest assets."

Aomine recognized the name as the hysterical lady that he had interviewed the day before while Midorima had been sifting through the archives. The two men shared a glance. Midorima pushed up his glasses, and locked a sharp gaze onto the President's worried face.

"I apologize if this sounds crude," he began. "But she won't be much of an asset to you if she was dead."

**xx**

Hoisting the duffel bag onto his shoulder, Aomine shut the car door and locked it before making his way towards the elevator lobby. He felt nervous, and rather anxious. Kuroko had told him to leave some clothes at his place, but his mind kept telling him that he had somehow misheard or misinterpreted the other man. It had also only just occurred to him that he had been spending a substantial amount of time at Kuroko's place when the security guard had waved him in the second he caught a glance of Aomine behind the wheel.

He rang the bell, fingers twiddling with the strap of the bag. Kuroko opened the door with a pleased smile. The tan man felt his lips curling upwards in an answering grin without any conscious effort on his part.

"Ah, you remembered to bring clothes," Kuroko noted happily. Aomine was glad that he had brought it up. It would have been awkward if he really had somehow misinterpreted Kuroko's words the night before. "I made some space in a drawer."

Aomine felt a tingle flash down his spine, at the words. He had his own space in Kuroko's drawer. He had his own _space _in his _life_. He bit his tongue to prevent the obscene giggle that tried to escape. Shutting the door behind himself, he followed Kuroko down the hallway, unable to break his silence for fear that he would say something infinitely stupid.

"It's not a lot of space," Kuroko was saying as he indicated the drawer to Aomine. It was about a meter long and seemed rather deep. Half of it was unoccupied. "I didn't know how much you were bringing. I can move more things out if your things don't fit."

"No, no," Aomine interjected hurriedly. He had only brought along two pairs of shorts and boxers, three shirts, and a toothbrush. It was more than what he took for a week-long vacation.

"Okay. I'll leave you to your unpacking," the pale man looked much too pleased about that. Should he have brought his furniture as well?

"'Kay," he intoned dazedly as he freaked out internally at the thought that had just flashed through his mind. Bring his furniture? What the hell?

With a chaste kiss planted to his lips, Kuroko left the room, and Aomine began his unpacking. It didn't take a lot of time, or much effort, but he remained in the crouching position beside the drawer as he stared at his toothbrush, for some odd reason unsure of what to do with it. Kuroko reappeared minutes later, an indication to just how long he had been there being an idiot. Pale blue eyes blinked at the taller man's position and he reached forward to pluck the toothbrush from unresisting fingers.

"This goes in the bathroom," he said unnecessarily. As he turned to leave, he added over his shoulder, "Dinner's ready."

Aomine walked into the kitchen, feeling very much like a newlywed husband who was disoriented and trying to adjust to a life of home-cooked meals and shared closet space. He shook his head in denial. Kuroko was a guy. He probably wouldn't like being referred to as a wife.

"Oh, I finally bought that frying pan." Kuroko entered the kitchen behind Aomine. "What?"

The latter stared at him, expression torn between humour and disbelief. Aomine was finding it hard to not mention how domestic Kuroko seemed. Especially after the display of excitement over a frying pan.

"Nothing," Aomine replied, plopping himself down at the dining table. "Everything looks good."

"One of the parents gave me some vegetables that she had grown in her garden," Kuroko said as he mirrored Aomine's actions and picked up his chopsticks. Before either of them could reach for the food, the doorbell rang, prompting a surprised look from both men. Kuroko stared wordlessly at Aomine who just stared right back.

"It's your door." The taller man pointed out. Kuroko made a vague noise and got up to go answer it. Aomine snagged a piece of chicken and began eating as he strained to catch the conversation. Luckily for him, the door was located right next to the kitchen, and since there was no background noise from the TV, the words were easy to catch.

"Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko said. "You're early."

That comment made Aomine pause. Had Kuroko been expecting him to leave before this newcomer arrived?

"Aka-chin let me off early," the faceless man's voice had a strange sing-song quality to it, and it sounded like he was chewing on something. "Ah, but I can't stay."

"I didn't expect you would be able to." Kuroko replied. Aomine heard the door shut. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"Nope~ Is Kuro-chin having dinner right now?" The man's shadow preceded him into the kitchen, and Aomine stared in morbid curiosity as the man appeared slowly around the corner. The detective's eyes widened to a comical size as he looked up and further up into the face of a giant. A curious face was shrouded in a mass of unruly purple hair, and his jaw worked as though he was chewing on a piece of gum.

"Hello," the giant greeted. Aomine put down his chopsticks when it dawned on him just how ridiculous he looked with his jaw hanging open and a piece of chicken hovering in front of his mouth.

"Hi," he replied, feeling the room shrink as the giraffe of a man moved into the kitchen completely. He could probably clean the top of Kuroko's cabinets without breaking a sweat.

"This is Murasakibara-kun. He works for my brother," Kuroko introduced. The purple-haired giraffe waved at him lazily. "Aomine-kun is the guy I'm dating."

Aomine liked that. It was like Kuroko was stating ownership. He would try that when he introduced him to his friends.

"Mine-chin is a cop?" Aomine blinked at him for a bit before he realized that 'Mine-chin' was himself. Kuroko's friends had weird choices in nicknames.

"Yeah," he replied cautiously. If Murasakibara worked for Akashi, it probably wasn't a good idea to tout his profession. The giant man nodded.

"Cool~ Do you eat a lot of donuts?"

"I'm not too big on sweet stuff."

"Eh~ That sucks," Murasakibara pushed the hair out of his face with a pout. "Kuro-chin shouldn't date someone who doesn't like sweet things."

"I'm sure he takes the occasional donut." Kuroko answered. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "I promised to meet someone."

"Then please wait for a moment." The smallest man turned and walked into his bedroom, leaving the two men in awkward silence.

"Aka-chin asked me to pass this to you." Aomine looked up at the small thumb drive held out to him. He took it, directing a questioning glance at the hovering man.

"How did he know we'd meet?" Murasakibara shrugged, pushing a lock of hair behind his ear as he checked to see if Kuroko was returning yet.

"He also asked me to tell you that you should be completely honest with Kuro-chin."

Freezing, Aomine's eyes turned sharp. "What does he mean by that?"

"Dunno," the other man shrugged idly. "I'm just the messenger."

"Sorry," Kuroko's voice preceded his figure, and Aomine instinctively thrust the small device into his pocket as Murasakibara leaned away. When Kuroko came back bearing a large box, both men looked as though the exchange had not just happened. "It'll take a while for the rest of the things to arrive, but you can have these first."

Accepting the box that had looked huge in Kuroko's arms, he opened the lid and inspected the contents. Happily, Murasakibara shut the lid again. "I've been waiting for these for a long time. Thanks, Kuro-chin~"

The blue-haired man escorted the giant to the door, looking impossibly tiny beside him. When he returned to the dining table it was to see nearly half the food gone, and Aomine was chewing on a mouthful, looking completely unaffected.

"I hope you don't mind," the pale man inquired as he resumed his seat and finally began eating.

"S'fine," Aomine shrugged nonchalantly. "It's your place after all."

In return, Kuroko hummed, and their meal continued in silence for a while.

"What was in that box?" Aomine couldn't resist the urge to find out. He was nosy, yes. It was why he'd become a detective.

"Snacks from Europe."

"What?"

"Murasakibara-kun likes to munch on snacks," he explained. "Kise-kun travels a lot, so he helps me buy snacks that aren't available in Japan for Murasakibara-kun."

"Oh." Again, they returned to silence.

"Did he tell you something?" This time, Kuroko was the one to speak.

"Nope," Aomine replied, years of practice making it easy for him to appear guiltless. "He just asked me about my favourite snacks."

"I see," Kuroko nodded in understanding. The taller man wasn't used to the squeezing feeling in his chest. He wanted to admit that the purple-haired giant had passed along something from Akashi, and he wanted to confess to a secret that he had forgotten he was hiding. But he bit his tongue and mentioned the first unrelated topic his mind could conjure up. He wasn't ready to reveal all of himself just yet.

**xx**

"Can I go home?"

"We've only been here for thirty minutes."

"This tie is killing me."

"Well too bad, suck it up."

"Insensitive bastard."

"Could you at least refrain from crude comments tonight? Momoi-san would like to leave her guests with a good impression." Midorima snapped at him. Aomine paused in the motion of tugging at his tie to return the glare.

"What the hell does my language have to do with her?"

"You're her friend, it reflects on her character." The green-eyed man replied with a long-suffering sigh.

"Her character is pretty rotten." Aomine muttered.

"Ahomine!"

"What?" he protested. "It's true!"

"At any rate," Midorima said, ignoring his comment. "See anyone suspicious?"

"Nope," Aomine returned to tugging at the suffocating piece of fabric wrapped around his neck. He was dressed in a black suit, the only set of clothes that he owned that was not store-bought. Momoi had insisted on him buying one for the event and for future occasions where he would be threatened into attending similar functions. Takao had helped him do up his tie, and his comment on how Takao would make a good wife for Midorima might have pressed the wrong buttons.

He wasn't very happy with the fact that he had to wear two layers that night, but after getting dressed, he had to admit that it at least looked good on him. When he had walked in escorting Momoi who was dressed in a tailored gold dress that clung to her curves with a small train that swept after her, they pair had gotten audible gasps, something that they had shared a grin over.

Soon after their entrance, the two had drifted apart, Momoi capturing all the attention in the centre of the room while Aomine retired to the back where he could keep an eye over the whole floor. Girls had fluttered over to him, but he'd smile and tell them straight up that he was taken. They left pretty soon after.

"Shin-chan, there you are!" Midorima froze at the sound of his boyfriend. Aomine glanced over his partner's shoulder and proffered a grin that was not the slightest bit sympathetic. "I want you to meet some people."

With Midorima dragged away, Aomine continued to observe the people milling around the room, filtering the sound of faint music and random chattering. He was pleasantly surprised at the get-up. It was the most normal party that Takao had ever planned.

"Aominecchi!" The said man huffed out a sigh. He had caught sight of the bob of blonde hair occasionally throughout the night, but he had hoped that the other man hadn't spotted him. Idle chatting was not on his list tonight.

"Kise," he returned with a strained smile. The blonde man hopped to his side, so full of energy that Aomine felt like his own was being sapped away.

"What are you doing in the back here?"

"I'm not into this kind of scene." He mumbled in reply.

"That's too bad." Kise's range of expressions was amazing. "Momoicchi told me that you told her to take time off modeling."

"Yeah," Aomine nodded. Kise had gone quiet and looked like he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

"Can I ca—"

"Ryou-kun!" The duo perked up as Momoi approached them from the other side. "Masamune-san is looking for you."

"Ah," Kise shot Aomine an apologetic look. "My manager. Excuse me."

"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Aomine noted as Momoi replaced Kise beside him. She smiled charmingly at him.

"Most of them are only asking about you. They're enchanted by the mysterious enigma who retires to the side of the room and spends his time broodily watching others as he sips on a single glass of wine." She said, voice low for dramatic effect. Aomine laughed, the sound and sight turning several heads.

"Since you've said that I can't go mingle now." He retorted. "I have an image to keep up."

The pink-haired model laughed with him, and the two settled into a companionable silence.

"What do you think of Ryou-kun?" Satsuki asked, her voice soft, almost tender.

"He's like a giant beach ball," Aomine mused, earning himself a whack on the arm. Laughing, he asked, "Does it even matter what I think?"

"Of course," she admonished. "Your opinion always matters."

"I can't say anything bad about him. You're already calling him 'Ryou-kun'." Aomine smirked down at her. "That's pretty much like getting married to you."

Satsuki stuck her tongue out at him, looking petulant. Even though she looked away, Aomine saw the faint blush that crept up her cheeks, and he ruffled her hair playfully, gaining another smack.

**xx**

It had been a week since he'd last seen Kuroko. Their investigation seemed to be leading them around in circles, and all the women who had reported being stalked were safe and out of harm's way. It was bittersweet, to say the least. Aomine sighed heavily, in a rare contemplative frame of mind. The alcoholic drink in front of him offered him no solutions. Kagami's bar was noisy, despite it being past midnight on a working day. He was brooding, and had rather rudely turned away nearly everyone who had approached him.

"Mine-chin?" Dark eyes glanced up at the unusual nickname.

"Murasakibara?" he returned, frowning. He'd never run into the man in Kagami's bar before. Could it be that he lived nearby?

"Wah~ I wasn't expecting to meet you again so soon." His sing-song voice was starting to grate on Aomine's nerves. He wasn't at his most charming right then.

"Me too," he replied as cordially as he could manage. "What brings you here?"

The purple-haired man settled onto the vacant stool beside Aomine, scrutinizing him thoughtfully and completely ignoring his question.

"Here." The tan man blinked at the envelope that was pushed across the bar towards him.

"What is it?" He picked it up and squinted at the contents. The lighting was dim, but he had seen his fair share of the world to recognize the shape in the envelope. He pulled out the wad of notes to confirm his suspicion. There was at least four million yen bundled in there. Shoving all of it back into the envelope, he tossed it back like it was poisonous.

"What the hell are you trying to pull," he hissed at the taller man who returned his glare unperturbedly.

"If you leave Kuro-chin alone." A cold shiver ran down his spine at Murasakibara's words. "Aka-chin promised that you'll get more."

The drink that Aomine had been nursing toppled over with a clatter and spilled onto the counter. Eyes glanced at the pair, a result of the sound of Aomine's fist slamming into the wood.

"Who the fuck does he think he is?" He struggled to keep his volume down, but the tension between them was obvious and the noise was starting to dwindle as the crowd sensed an encroaching fight.

"He's looking out for his brother." Murasakibara leveled a serious look at him, expression vastly different from the indifferent child that he had initially appeared to be.

"This isn't how you fucking look out for your brother," Aomine spat. "What does he hope to accomplish by doing something so backhanded?"

Murasakibara contemplated him for a bit. When he spoke again, his voice was low. "Are you really in a position to say that?"

"I don't do things behind his back."

"Keeping secrets isn't that much better."

"I'm not obligated to bare my soul yet. We're not fucking married."

"Kuro-chin deserves more." Aomine was taken aback by the sudden fierceness in the huge man's expression. "If you're not willing to commit then leave him alone."

"I—" he began, but bit his tongue. He wasn't ready to admit his feelings to anyone just yet. Even with himself, he was having trouble grasping the magnitude of it. "I don't want to rush this. It's different."

Murasakibara calmed slightly at the quiet admission. "Kuro-chin has been through a lot."

Leaving the words dangling in the air around him for Aomine to ponder over and interpret as he found suit, the purple-eyed man stood and left, taking the package with him.

"Eh. Where'd he go?" Aomine didn't bother looking up.

"Who?"

"Atsushi."

"You know him?" The navy-haired man looked up with a surprised frown.

Himuro blinked back at him. "Yeah, we're going out."

Aomine groaned and buried his face in his hands. Whoever came up with 'it's a small world' was probably chuckling away at him. Bastards. He checked his watch and decided that the only way the day could redeem itself was if he could hide in his bed like the child that he felt like right then. As he got up to leave, he paused, and turned back to the raven-haired man who was wiping up the spilt drink.

"Where's Kagami?"

"Out back."

"Could you get him for me?" He asked, leaning forward onto the bar. "I need a favour."


	18. Chapter 18

**I am so sorry this came out late! The excuse I'll use is that I had a lot of work to do over the weekend, but the truth is that I stayed up late playing games and was a total zombie during the day. If there are parts of this that don't make sense to you, it was written when I was mostly zoned out. Forgive me. ._.**

**Anyway, I need to sleep e.e **

**Enjoy and let me know what you think! **

* * *

Aomine had never been as grateful for a day off as he had been that morning when he woke up. He prepped for the day languidly, luxuriating in the ability to decide on a fulfilling breakfast rather than the slice of toast he usually grabbed on the way out the door. He had no obligations today, besides a movie night with Momoi that he was looking forward to. As he tinkered around his kitchenette, he considered his options. It was still early, the hands on the clock told him. He needed to get his grocery shopping done. His fridge was in a dire state as he had been spending most of his days between the station and Kuroko's apartment. He had kept putting off shopping for groceries during the week he had been away from Kuroko, telling himself that it would all go to waste once he found the time to go visit again.

However, most shops were not open at 6.30 in the morning, barring convenience stores. Plating the scrambled eggs, he sat down with a thoughtful glance towards his living room. His apartment was in a sorry state, dust covering every available surface. He had been spending so much time out that coming home for any reason besides to crash on his bed was inconceivable. He should probably do some cleaning up in addition to the grocery shopping.

He cleaned off his breakfast, enjoying the lull that a new day provided. The air outside was probably crisp and sharp, with mist still hanging over the streets. Winter had begun, but there was still no sign of snow. Washing his plate and leaving it on a rack to dry, he padded across the small living room to his balcony window and peeped out. As he had supposed, the weather outside was perfect for a run around his neighbourhood. Deciding that running was exactly what he needed to start the day, he disappeared into his bedroom to change into running attire more suited for winter and grabbed a pair of socks and his shoes on the way out the door.

He ran aimlessly, feet moving on auto-pilot as his mind wandered off and he found himself thinking about the recent encounters he had had with the purple-haired giant who worked for Kuroko's step brother. He knew that he wasn't welcome due to his chosen profession, but that didn't warrant the extent of interference that Akashi was going to. Particularly if Akashi really did know about his secret, he should not be so opposed to Kuroko going out with him. It didn't feel right. Aomine wondered if Akashi had done this to all of Kuroko's previous lovers as well.

The tan man came to a halt, breathing slightly hitched. Checking his watch, he realized that he had been running for close to an hour and a glance at his surroundings told him that he had left his neighbourhood some way back. He blinked at the structure he had paused beside, its compound completely fenced up. Maybe it was a sign from up above. Wiping the sweat from his brows, he followed the fence until he came to a locked gate. It was obvious that the perimeter of fencing was designed to keep people in, rather than out, and most of the prisoners were well below average height. With a bit of effort Aomine could hoist himself over the fence and into the compound, but he knew better than to do that. His policeman status would only get him so far.

Instead, he leaned into the fence, and cast his eyes around the vast garden for a glimpse of another soul. He finally caught sight of them around the corner and made his way along the fence closer to them. Watching them play a game that involved tossing a ball around in an order that he was unaware of, Aomine waited patiently for one of the toddlers to come over. Their curiosity was already sparked, as he received several glances from the crowd, but none of them dared to approach him. Just as he was about beckon a boy over, a bell went off and there was a flood of children into the grounds.

Using his height to his advantage, he scanned the crowd of noisy kids for a familiar shock of blonde hair. He zoomed in on her at the same time that she noticed him, and Aomine could only watch in amusement as a yellow ball of energy screamed excitedly as she ran across the garden to him.

"Aomine-san!" She yelled for the world to hear. Nearby children paused their games and discussions to follow her to him, evidently concluding that if she knew him, then he couldn't be a bad guy.

"Hey, Sunshine," he grinned, reaching through the fence to ruffle her hair lightly.

Bright topaz eyes sparkled up at him. "Sensei said you'd be coming!"

At her words Aomine glanced around in search of Kuroko. He was probably still inside the building. "Where's your sensei?"

Ryouko, too, looked around, prompting others to search for Kuroko as well. "I think he's still inside."

"Could you go get him for me?" Aomine smiled his most non-threatening smile at the group of gawping kids. "I'm here to keep my promise."

"Okay!" she beamed at him. "I'll be right back!"

While Aomine waited, trying hard to ignore the outright staring he was being subjected to he pulled out his phone to make a show of being occupied with something. He noticed a text message from an unknown number and opened it, frown on his face. He wasn't in the habit of handing out his phone numbers to people anymore. He had barely read the first two words when he heard his name being called and he scanned through the rest of the message without registering what it said before looking up.

Whatever it had been, it was his day off, and with Kuroko floating across the playground looking stunning as usual, Aomine was determined to leave work matters untouched.

"Good morning," Kuroko greeted, the sea of children parting around him as he made his way to the fence.

"Good morning, beautiful," Aomine returned, a corner of his lips curling upward in a handsome smile. Kuroko raised an eyebrow at the pet-name but looked pleased with it nonetheless.

"Ryouko-chan tells me you're here to teach them basketball?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "If they want to learn, that is."

Immediately, there was a chorus of 'yes's and a storm of activity started up as the kids clambered to get his attention. Besides the group, standing slightly away, Ryouko was quiet, but looked infinitely proud, as though she had brought the best show and tell item. Kuroko lead him around the fence to the main gate and unlocked it for him. As he walked past, their hands brushed and Aomine had to remind himself that he couldn't grab the smaller man and give him a mind-blowing kiss because it would be awkward if the parents found out. Instead, he gave Kuroko's hand a light squeeze, and shot him a smile that promised more to come when they were alone.

Ryouko appeared at his side and slipped a tiny hand into his, fingers barely managing to curl around three of his.

"Did you bring the basketball I got you?" The tan man queried, feeling like a giant amongst munchkins.

"Yup!" she piped, and let go of his hand to bound off around the corner, followed by all the other kids. Aomine hung back, waiting for Kuroko to come up beside him.

"I'm glad you came," the blue-haired man said softly, linking their index fingers and swinging their arms slightly. "Ryouko-chan's been pestering me for ages."

"Sorry," Aomine felt guilt well up inside him. He hadn't expected to be so busy with the case. In all honesty, he had very nearly forgotten the promise until he had found himself in front of the kindergarten.

"It's alright," Kuroko said with a casual shrug. "She knows you've been busy."

"I didn't expect her to miss me so much," Aomine muttered, sounding baffled. From his innumerous experiences with children, they tended to forget him after a couple of weeks. Seeing her run across the playground so exuberantly when she had caught sight of him had been a surprise.

"She adores you," Kuroko retorted. "Even Kise-kun complained about how much she kept talking about you. I think he's jealous."

"Is that so?" he mumbled thoughtfully. Coming to a halt, he wrapped his hand around Kuroko's smaller one and tugged him into his chest. They stood just around the corner from the group of playing kids, the shouts and pattering feet loud and clear to both of them. The wall beside them was unadorned, and they were in full view of the road. Aomine didn't care for all of that. In fact, the more people who knew, the fewer heads he had to chop off to keep them away from Kuroko.

"What about you?" the question was soft as he lost himself in twin pools of turquoise. "Did you miss me?"

Kuroko hummed in response. "My sleep isn't disturbed by your snoring anymore."

Aomine stared at him in disbelief. "I don't snore."

"If you insist," Kuroko replied condescendingly and turned around to walk away. Aomine grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him back.

"I do not snore," the navy-haired man declared. Kuroko leveled him a look. "Do I?"

"Which answer will get you to shut up about it?"

"I really do snore?" Kuroko stifled a laugh at the horror on Aomine's face.

"I didn't say that."

"Tetsu!"

"No, you don't snore," Kuroko retorted, exasperated. The taller man heaved a sigh of relief. "Much."

When the pair finally emerged around the corner Ryouko ran over to them, clinging to the small basketball. She took one look at Aomine then beckoned Kuroko down, whispering loud enough for both of them to hear.

"What happened to Aomine-san?"

"It's nothing," Kuroko returned, giving her a reassuring smile. "He just learned something new about himself."

**xx**

"Feeding kids sugar should be banned." Aomine was bent over, hands on his knees as he wheezed. Kuroko merely grunted in reply, completely engrossed in the book that he had procured seemingly out of thin air.

"What's wrong, Aomine-san?" The said man craned his head around to see Sunshine looking as fresh as if she had just stepped out of the shower, the only indication to the hardcore workout Aomine had been subjected to being the glean of sweat on her face. The dark-haired man had never felt so old before.

"I'm getting old," he grunted. "Lemme take a sec. You guys carry on without me."

Nodding, the blonde child returned to her friends, and they proceeded to play a messy game ambiguous of basketball.

"They need more basketballs," Aomine mused out loud as his eyes followed the small bodies. There were a few of them, including Ryouko, who had serious potential in the sport. They only needed some extra training.

"More basketballs without the skill will not solve anything," Kuroko replied, eyes still traveling across the pages at an alarming rate.

"Obviously," Aomine huffed. "I'd teach them."

That made him pause, and Kuroko shot him a surprised look. "Really?"

"'course. One of them could be a real money maker in the future," wide shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I need a retirement plan."

His words earned him a laugh. "You're barely into your twenties."

"I wonder about that," Aomine grimaced. "Everything's creaking."

"Poor baby," Kuroko crooned as he reached over to pat his cheek laughingly. "I'll treat you to one of my massages later."

The tan man perked up at that. "Sounds promising."

"I don't like to toot my own horn," Kuroko began, expression anything but modest. "But my massages are out of this world."

Aomine grinned at him. "If they're as good as you say, I'll never let you go."

"Bold words for a flighty man." Kuroko narrowed his eyes at him doubtfully.

The taller of the two smiled, the words he spoke sounding like a revelation to himself. "You've changed me."

**xx**

The bell rang to signal the end of recess. As one, the children groaned, and the multiple toys they had been playing with were dropped unceremoniously in their appointed spots as they began trudging back into the building. Ryouko was among the last few, hovering beside Aomine as he stood with Kuroko who was by the door, fully submerged in his teacher role. Aomine felt a slight tug on his hand.

"Are you leaving?" The child questioned. In answer, he nodded. Kuroko had informed him that school would not be out for another few hours, and he planned to take a shower and run his errands in the meantime. Ryouko looked disappointed, a small frown curving her lips downwards. A lightbulb lit up over his head at a thought. He crouched down so that he was closer to the child's eye level.

"I'll come back after school," he said. "And we can go for lunch."

Instantly, she perked up at the suggestion, wide smile lighting up her features.

"Is that really fine?" The pair glanced up to see Kuroko looking down at them, eyebrows furrowed. "Kise-kun is supposed to pick her up."

"Don't worry," Aomine turned back to Ryouko, decidedly ignoring Kuroko's words for the time being. The dark-skinned man shot her a conspiring grin. "I'll see you later."

Casting an unsure glance at her teacher who nodded wordlessly, she flung her arms around Aomine's neck in a quick hug before bounding in after her last classmate.

"Is that really fine?" Kuroko repeated, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm going over to Satsuki's place tonight for a movie. I'll get her to invite Kise over too, if he's not already there." The last part was added drily. "If you could give him a call and tell him?"

"Okay," Kuroko pursed his lips, expression dubious.

"Great! I'll see you both in a bit." Aomine leaned forward to capture Kuroko's lips in a chaste kiss but was stopped by the hand on his chest.

"Both?" The taller man stared at him as though he was missing a few screws.

"Obviously," Aomine snorted. "It's early payment for the massage."

"But I—" The pale man's words were cut off by Aomine's lips, the contact making him forget what he was about to say momentarily. It felt like it had been months since he had last felt Aomine's lips pressed against his. He hadn't realized that he had missed it so much until his body gave in to the craving and he pulled down the latter's shoulders and deepened the kiss.

They broke apart, both breathing hard with their heartbeats spiked.

"Bad idea," Aomine muttered. "We're in public."

"Yeah," Kuroko agreed, arms tightening around his shoulders. "I should go in."

"Okay." Neither made to break the embrace, eyes locked as though they were communicating telepathically. Finally, with a woeful smile, Aomine unhooked Kuroko's arms, planted a quick kiss on his forehead and left with a whispered, "Bye."

When Kuroko entered the building, Aida was standing close by, instructing one of the teachers on changes to be made to her teaching module. The two glanced up at his entrance, twin grins creeping onto their faces.

"Kuroko-kun is so lucky~" the other teacher sighed. "I wish my boyfriend kissed me like that."

The blue-eyed man blinked at them. "You saw?"

"You were right next to the window," Aida retorted with a cocked eyebrow. "You're lucky that the students were facing the other way in class."

"Sorry," Kuroko couldn't resist the sheepish smile that curled over his lips. "I wasn't thinking straight."

"We know," they snickered at the look on his face. "You can't possibly be, to be dating someone like that."

**xx**

He had done enough exercise that day to fill a month's quota, he decided as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Making his way to the shower, he shed his clothes as progressed down the hall, pausing only to take out his phone and wallet and place them on the kitchen table. He pressed a button to light up the screen to see if he had received any calls or text messages since the last he had checked. Nothing showed up, and having forgotten the message from the unknown number, Aomine proceeded to the bathroom, making a mental note to give Satsuki a ring later.

Grocery shopping took him less than half an hour, as he had cut many things from his list on the assumption that he would be spending more time at Kuroko's apartment, now that he officially had a drawer half filled with his belongings. Aomine didn't notice the odd looks he received from passersby at the creepy leer that pervaded his features unconsciously.

Cleaning took a little more time, as he rearranged his furniture to accommodate two people more comfortably. He liked having Kuroko over. It made his small apartment feel full, but in a good way. As the clock hit the hour, he grabbed his car keys, along with his wallet and phone and left the apartment.

While he waited, parked across the street from the kindergarten, Aomine recalled that he had to make a call and hit the button for Satsuki's speed-dial.

"Hey," he said into the mouthpiece as soon as the line clicked. "You at home?"

There was silence for a while, and Aomine glanced at the clock on his dashboard. Perhaps she wasn't awake. "Aominecchi?"

"Kise?" he returned confusedly. "Isn't this Satsuki's phone?"

"Ah, yeah…" there was some rustling in the background and then, "I'm sorry, she won't wake up."

"That's fine," he replied nonchalantly. "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Hold on," more rustling went on, and there was a muffled creak. When he spoke again, Kise was no longer whispering. "What is it?"

"It's about Ryouko –"

"Shit!" He flinched at the exclamation. "I forgot I need to pick her up!"

"Relax, Kise," Aomine said with a roll of his eyes. "I was gonna ask if it's okay if I take her out for lunch and return her later when I go over for the movie."

"Ah," Kise's hesitation was understandable. Anyone would be wary of a stranger taking their little sister out for food. He might feed her more sugar.

"Tetsu's going too." He added.

"Kurokocchi?" Why did the blonde have to sound so surprised? They _were_ dating. "Oh, in that case, it should be fine."

In that case? He was a detective for crying out loud. He wasn't a shady character who ate children. "Cool. See you both tonight."

"Ah, wait!" Aomine's thumb was hovering over the button to end the call when the shout blasted through his speaker. He returned the device to his ear.

"What is it?"

"Can I have your number?"

"Sure?" Aomine replied cautiously. The blonde man probably wanted it for if an emergency cropped up with his kid sister. "Just take it from Satsuki's phone."

"Right, thanks." This time Aomine waited until Kise ended the call first. There was a knock on the window of his passenger door and he turned to see Kuroko waving at him. Unlocking the doors, he watched as Kuroko opened the back door and helped a bouncing Ryouko into the vehicle before settling into the passenger seat in front.

"So, what do you feel like having for lunch?" Aomine asked the child seated behind, looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror.

"Hm," she pressed a finger to her lips as she considered his question seriously. "I want pizza."

"Pizza it is," he announced, casting a quick glance at Kuroko to see if he had any protest. Finding none, he put his car into gear and drove off, the sight of the little girl's surprise at his acceptance of her proposal engraved onto his brain.

**xx**

"Thank you for the meal," Ryouko piped up as they left the restaurant. "I feel like a teddy bear!"

"Full of stuffing?" Aomine asked, laughing at her analogy.

"Yup! I'm full all the way up here." She indicated a line just above her head with her hand.

"You mean there's no more space for dessert?" Aomine feigned chagrin. The child contemplated on an answer.

"What kind of dessert?"

"I feel like having ice-cream." The tan man noticed the small smile playing about Kuroko's lips as he stared straight ahead.

"I think there's still some space left for dessert," she replied, nodding in affirmation.

"That's good," Aomine nodded along with her. "Lead the way."

Ryouko bounded off ahead of them, head whipping around as she focused on the mission at hand.

"You spoil her," Kuroko chided him as they followed after her at a leisurely pace.

"It's hard to resist that smile."

"Bribing her with junk food is not good."

"You're right," the taller man agreed readily. "Oh, look, vanilla milkshakes!"

"Where?" Kuroko stopped suddenly, head whipping around. At the mocking grin that lit up Aomine's face, he burst out laughing, whacking the other man in rebuttal.

They continued walking, and Aomine caught sight of an ice-cream parlor that he pointed out to Ryouko who immediately rushed off towards it. As they were lining up, Aomine felt the vibration of his phone in his jeans pocket and left the two brightly coloured individuals to discuss ice cream flavours as he exited the store and answered the call. It was from the same unlisted number as before, but his gut told him to answer it instead of ignoring it like he usually would have.

"Hello?"

"Aomine-san?" He frowned at the soft female voice on the other end of the line. He wasn't interested in playing the game anymore. He had made it clear to everyone who had approached him.

"Who is this?"

"T-This is Mari, from the other day."

"Mari-san," he relaxed at the recognition. He was alerted by the heavy way she was breathing through the phone, almost as though she was holding back sobs. "What is it?"

"I-I-I think he's here."

Dread settled into his gut. She sounded panicked, and her whispered words were barely audible. "Who?"

"The serial killer. H-He's outside my room." Mari choked on a sob. This wasn't good. She should have called him earlier. He straightened, striding back into the shop and bidding a hasty goodbye to his two companions. Kuroko nodded understandingly, and shooed him off without a word. Leaving, he headed straight towards his car.

"Where are you right now? Give me your address." As she told him in halting words, Aomine paused. The apartment name that she had mentioned was not that far from the mall that he was in. Turning on his heels, he walked purposefully towards the exit, taking in the surroundings and heading off in the direction of her place at a jog. All the while, he kept talking to her, knowing that it would help her calm down.

"Can you hear him?" He asked.

"Yes. He's trying the lock."

"Do you have anything blocking the door?"

"I pushed a chair under the doorknob, but everything else is too heavy."

"Okay, that's fine, I'm almost there." He said, picking up speed. He remembered that he didn't have his gun on him. Shit. "I need you to do exactly what I say."

**xx**

His hands had been shaking from the influx of adrenaline into his bloodstream when he had shadowed the woman from the train station to her apartment complex. He felt like a predator on the hunt, the adrenaline dulling and enhancing his senses at the same time. He knew what he was going to do with her. She had made him wait, for over a week, and his patience was running thin. There was a special type of punishment that he had in store for her.

He had cased her apartment before, but he hadn't counted on her messy tendencies. He'd knocked over her handbag that she had dropped carelessly onto the floor, and the sound of its contents being upheaved had alerted her. She had quick reflexes, locking the bedroom door before he could jam it with his foot.

Nevermind. That only made it more thrilling. He searched the kitchen for something to pick the lock with. It wasn't exactly his forte, but he had time. And the longer he tinkered with the lock, he knew, the more fearful his prey would become. He could already smell her fear through the door. It called to him, like a siren to a seaman. It made him sick with euphoria every time he did this. It never got old.

Progress was slow, but he was meticulous. After this he'd practice a bit more, he mused. A similar situation may happen in the future. He paused his ministrations at the sound of her voice barely squeezing through the wood of the door. Removing the makeshift lock pick, he pressed his ear to the crack, moving into a crouch when he realized from her voice that she was seated with her back pressed against the door. He could shoot her through it, a part of him said.

But that would mean she'd be dead before he had the chance for any fun, another part argued.

She could be calling the police.

The police. He grimaced at the thought. He had run into them before. A waste of society, he believed. They hadn't even been able to learn anything about him after all this time. They were hardly a threat.

"Saki-san," he snapped to attention at the name. He recognized it from the research on the woman that he had conducted. Saki was the man living in the apartment down the hall. He pressed his ear harder against the crack, as though it would allow him to hear better. "I think there's a burglar in my house. Will you please come over right now?"

Good, she thought it was a burglar. He could escape now, and no one would be the wiser. Grab a few things to make a show and leave through the emergency fire escape down the hall.

He had a gun, though. Surely the neighbour, despite his bulk, would be unable to take a bullet standing. He could shoot the model first, and then ambush the man as he came through the door.

"The door should be unlocked. Be careful." He glanced around, increasingly frantic. He still had time. He could bolt out the balcony window and hide until it was safe to escape.

Fiddling with the gun that he had brought along, he shot a glance between the front door and the bedroom door. He really wanted to shoot her. She was such an irritation, with the way she was making this so difficult for him.

Making his decision, he slowly, carefully, tugged open the front door and listened for footsteps.

Nothing. Yet. He could run now.

Grabbing a handful of the nearest items, he slipped into the hallway, disappearing around the corner just as the elevator arrived at the floor. He peeked around the edge, surprised to see the detective that had interviewed Mari before rush out of the elevator and into her apartment. It was his day off, he knew. He made sure to do thorough research on everyone involved.

That meant he didn't have a gun.

This was a perfect opportunity. He could get rid of a pest, and that woman in one go. He was about to make a move when the elevator doors opened again, and the dark-haired man's partner appeared, flanked by two officers.

Fuck, he thought. A wasted chance. He pulled back behind the wall, and moved quickly to the fire escape. They would realize soon that he had not been gone for very long, and would come looking for him.

He was seething inside. That bastard detective was going to pay.


	19. Chapter 19

**I don't know how to apologize for the wait ;-; It was supposed to be a week, then it kept dragging on because of all my assignments piling up on me. Anyway, I hope this will appease your rage for the time being, but if you're not angry and just hungry for more AoKuro angst, then this is for you too. I wanted to do fluff, but I had to be realistic. Someone has to die. Am I depressing you yet? :D**

**As always, enjoy and let me know what you think! It's because of all the positive feedback that I dragged myself out of my rut to write this. Though I am not liable for any hatred incurred while reading this. **

_**You have been warned.**_

* * *

"Lock down the building!" Aomine barked out the order as soon as he heard the hurried footsteps rush into the apartment after him. "The asshole's still in here somewhere!"

Immediately, one of the uniformed officers that had been a step behind Midorima turned on his heels and ran out again. Aomine looked at the remaining policeman. "There's a fire escape somewhere on the outside of the building. Make sure no one uses it."

Nodding, the man left, leaving the pair of detectives alone, with the exception of the quivering body that Aomine had his arms wrapped protectively around. Midorima considered the frightened model in silence for a while. Sending Aomine a pointed look that the dark-haired man knew to mean that he was leaving it up to Aomine to deal with the worked up female, he, too, turned around and exited. Aomine remained in the crouch, stroking her back gently as sobs wrecked through her body. She had been strong in the face of death, and now that she was safe, he knew that it would take quite a while before she calmed down.

"You did great," he mumbled softly, comfortingly. "It's all okay now. You can breathe."

Her breaths were shaky and stuttered as she tried vainly to halt the flow of tears. Aomine cast a glance towards the door. He wanted to be downstairs in the lobby where Midorima probably was, looking out for the perpetrator, not here being as awkward as a turtle trying to be supportive. He may have spent many years of his life around women, but dealing with them when they were in such an emotionally unstable state had never been his forte. Or any other man's, he would imagine.

It took a while for him to register how silent it had suddenly become. Mari had cried herself to exhaustion, fingers clinging weakly to the sleeves of his shirt as she struggled to stay upright and not bowl him over. She could hardly do that, he thought absentmindedly. She was smaller than Kuroko.

Hands planted firmly on her shoulders, he leaned her back and looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Don't budge an inch. I'll be right back."

Mari's answering nod was hesitant, the way her bottom lip quivered as she did that a clear indication to the detective of just how much effort it took to release her grip on him. Standing, he moved quickly, grabbing the blanket off the foot of the bed and wrapping it tightly around her before he made his way out into the general area of the apartment. Critical eyes took in everything, making a mental note of the shelf that looked suspiciously empty and the two bits of metal that he identified as lock picks.

Using a piece of tissue paper, he picked them up and rolled them carefully, pocketing the evidence. He had only had enough time to call Midorima as he made his way over, so the CSU would not be called in for a bit. Also, it was supposed to be his day off, which was why he didn't have any of his equipment on him. Aomine let out an inaudible sigh as he stood in the middle of the room, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. It was going to be a long day.

**xx**

Midorima had skipped down most of the stairs, having deemed the elevator too slow. When he emerged in the decadently furbished lobby, it was to the sight of a group of security guards and his own police officer stopping every person that tried to walk in or out of the large revolving doors. Stopping beside the closest of the guards, he put a hand on the man's shoulder, and flashed his badge.

"Did anyone leave the premises at all?"

"No, sir. We managed to stop everyone." The guard replied. "Although I can't say that there hadn't been a couple of cars to drive out before the alert was raised."

"That's fine," the green-eyed man nodded. It wasn't likely that the murderer would be able to escape that quickly, but even if that had been the case, Midorima knew better than to take it out on the guards.

"Excuse me." The tall man turned around, an eyebrow raised in askance, and then bent his head lower. Beside him stood an elderly lady, dressed lavishly, and looking extremely displeased. "What is going on?"

"I beg your pardon, ma'am," he smiled down at her charmingly. "But there has been a crime committed in this building, and we're trying to apprehend the perpetrator."

"Oh, dear me, that's terrible!" She exclaimed, looking much too delighted at the idea. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't elaborate further," Midorima bowed. "It is strictly confidential information."

"Of course, of course," she crooned, waving her hand at his words. "Do carry on with your work."

With that said, she ambled off, presumably to go spread the gossip amongst the other women who stood around, looking completely at a loss. Well, he thought, at least it gave them something to occupy their time.

"Excuse me, Midorima-san?" This time, the voice was masculine, and Midorima's memory of the man who appeared before him was still fresh.

"Kou-san," Emerald eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Midorima had not assumed that he was a high-ranking member of the agency when they had met the other day. He hadn't dressed as well then as he did now. "What's up with the commotion?"

"There was a burglary just minutes ago," he wasn't sure what made him lie, but a detective that didn't listen to his gut would end up dead on the streets before they could snap their fingers. "We're trying to see if we can catch the person who did it before they manage to escape."

Kou whistled low. "Man that sucks. Is the person who got attacked okay?"

"Yes, they're doing fine. Slightly shocked, but in pretty good condition." Midorima schooled his features so that they were blank, blinking his eyes slowly to appear nonchalant as he scrutinized Kou's reactions closely. Looking around at the growing crowd, the latter turned concerned eyes towards him.

"Is this going to take a long time? I have a meeting to attend."

"Didn't you just enter?" Green eyes considered him questioningly.

"I just came back to take some things. I was supposed to head right out."

"I sincerely apologize," Midorima said with a shake of his head. "Until we're absolutely sure he's not within the building, we cannot release anyone."

"Ehh," Kou scrunched up his nose. "Guess I'll have to call in and let my boss know."

"I would advise it," Midorima agreed. "Find a corner to settle down in, it might be a bit of a wait."

"Yeah, sure," came the mumbled reply, phone already in his hand as he shuffled off to find a spot with the slightest bit of privacy. Green eyes watched him go, lips unconsciously pursed in thought.

"Detective." The said man perked up at the call, catching sight of the police officer that had been tasked to watch the emergency fire escape striding towards him.

"Towa," he acknowledged. "Why aren't you outside?"

"I got a couple of people keeping guard there." Towa explained, coming to a halt beside Midorima and watched the crowd with mild interest. "I called in back up, by the way."

"Good, thanks," The other man returned. Thoughtfully, he pushed up his spectacles higher on the bridge of his nose. "Keep an eye on them. Especially that man in the corner. I'll be upstairs with Aomine if you need anything."

Making sure that Towa knew exactly which man he was referring to, Midorima walked to the back of the lobby and pressed the button for the lift.

**xx**

"Feeling better?" Aomine's tone was slightly teasing, but his smile was gentle.

Nodding, Mari said, voice raspy, "I'm sorry about that outburst."

"Don't be sorry. You were right to be frightened. I'd be worried if you weren't freaking out." His words garnered him a small smile. "You up for some explaining?"

Silently, she stared off into the distance, as though she was organizing the thoughts in her head before she answered him. Finally, she nodded.

"How come you're back in Tokyo? Weren't you supposed to be with your parents?"

"I was with them, but they just decided the other day that they want to take a vacation overseas and wanted me to go with them, so I had to come back and get my passport."

"Did you tell anyone you were coming back?"

"I told my brother," she squinted as she tried to recall mentioning it to anyone else. "I think it was just him, because I was supposed to go stay with him until I went back."

"You came here from your brother's place?"

"No, I came straight from the train station. This is two stops from my brother's house."

"I see," Aomine said slowly. If the killer had managed to catch her in her apartment just when she was around, it was very likely that he had known she was returning from the countryside. Aomine could assume that he knew where her parents lived. Pointing that out would be a mistake, though. Instead, he asked, "What happened when he came in?"

"I was looking for my passport in my wardrobe," she began, gesturing towards the walk-in wardrobe that was the size of his apartment. "When I heard the sound of someone kicking my handbag, I didn't even think, I just ran out and locked my door."

"Those are some pretty good reflexes you have there." He said, smiling briefly. "What happened after that?"

"I…" she paused for a while before continuing. "I called you right after that I think. I only remember crawling into the back of my wardrobe and praying hard that he wouldn't get in."

"What about when he left?"

"He stopped tinkering with the lock when he heard me mention Saki-san's name. It was probably five minutes later when I heard sounds outside."

"He took some things?" Aomine jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the empty shelf beside the door.

Mari nodded. "Those were nothing important, though. Just random souvenirs I picked up."

"Would you be able to recognize all of them?"

"I suppose so. I've looked at them for years."

"Alright." Aomine stood and whipped out his phone. He stopped before hitting the call button, a thought occurring to him. "Where do you intend to stay now?"

"My brother's I guess." She shrugged. "I don't have a lot of options."

Not sure if it was a good idea to tell her that she might be leading the murderer straight to her family, he merely nodded and then walked out into the living room to make the call. The sound of his partner's ringtone outside the door drew his glance and he raised his eyebrows at his screen as he ended the call before Midorima could answer. The door opened soundlessly as Midorima walked into the apartment, in the motion of pocketing his cellular device.

"Anything?" The green-haired man nodded in the direction of the bedroom. Aomine lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. There was plenty that he would tell Midorima, but not in the presence of the model.

"She needs a place to stay the night." Aomine muttered, turning away to inspect her kitchen.

"Where does she want to go?"

"Her brother's." Aomine watched in mild interest as Midorima pulled out a pair of gloves and picked up a small black bag that had been shoved behind the kitchen counter that Aomine's initial sweep of the place had missed. Carefully unzipping it, he sifted through the contents with Aomine looking over his shoulder. Inside was a mini hardware store that specialized in the sharp and shiny.

"I'll get this to CSU," Midorima's voice was low so Mari wouldn't hear. Letting her figure out just what the killer had intended for her would shake her already unstable condition. "You should convince her to stay in a hotel."

"Yeah." Aomine agreed, and followed his partner to the door. Shutting it behind him, Aomine took a deep breath and padded into the bedroom. "Mari-san."

Looking up with a start, her eyes wide and fearful for a moment, it took several seconds for Mari to relax enough to nod her head in question. Aomine felt his heart pull. He knew the right thing to do was to get her to move herself to a hotel, as she could be putting her brother and his family in danger with her presence, but experience told him that even if she somehow miraculously agreed to it, she would be frightened to be by herself. Even with policemen stationed outside her room, it was doubtful that she would be able to sleep soundly.

He made up his mind, praying that it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. "Where does your brother live?"

**xx**

"Where'd you go?" Aomine made a face at the words that greeted him the moment his partner caught sight of him.

"I dropped Mari off at her brother's place."

"Is that wise?" Midorima looked concernedly at him.

"Probably not," he admitted. Pulling out his chair, he collapsed into it with a huge sigh. "But staying alone in a hotel after what just happened would be torture."

"I see." Silence fell between the two detectives, Aomine leaned back on his chair, eyes closed as he tried to fight off the encroaching headache and listened to the steady rhythm of tapping as Midorima typed away at his keyboard. Minutes later, the sound of clicking keys stopped, prompting Aomine to pry one eye open.

"What?" He grunted.

"Kou-san was there," came the quiet reply. Aomine sat up, alert. "He said he lives in the building."

"Does he?" The dark-haired man rolled himself forward and powered up his computer.

Nodding, Midorima answered, "I checked with the building super. He said that all those we held in the lobby were either residents or people who had visited before. We didn't find anyone suspicious."

"But?" Aomine pressed on when the man opposite him fell silent.

"It's probably nothing," Midorima said slowly. "But Kou-san was wearing gloves."

"That doesn't make a very good case," Aomine muttered drily.

Midorima tossed him a glare. "That's why I said it was probably nothing. Something just doesn't feel right about that man."

"Investigate him then," the dark-skinned man retorted with a yawn. He wanted to go home and sleep. His lazy day out with Kuroko and Ryouko had been epicly ruined. As the thought of the blonde blob of sunshine crossed his mind he cursed under his breath and tugged out his phone.

"Hey," he said into the mouthpiece before the other had the chance to speak. "Is Sunshine okay?"

"Here I was, thinking that Aomine-kun was calling because he missed me." Kuroko's voice was dry, but Aomine didn't detect any hint of anger. "I just dropped her off at her house."

"Okay," he huffed out a relieved sigh. "And I do miss you."

"I'm sure you do," Kuroko replied, evidently amused. "You don't need to worry about my feelings."

"But I really do," he insisted. Out of his peripherals, he could see Midorima bend his head closer to the file he was writing in. "I miss you all the time."

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Aomine heard the sound of keys jingling in the background. "Is it okay to be sweet-talking your lover over the phone while you're on the job?"

"The rule book didn't say I couldn't," he responded with a shrug the other man couldn't see. He would be a dead man if he let on just what the word 'lover' did to his insides. "Besides, the only one here right now is my partner, and he sweet-talks his boyfriend all the time."

At that, twin pools of dark jade looked up from the work he had been staring at to glare a hole through Aomine's forehead. In answer, Aomine grinned widely at him.

"Aomine-kun actually read the rule book?" Kuroko sounded dubious, something that was completely understandable.

He hummed in thought. "More like, I scanned through it."

"All of it? I imagine that there must be a number of pages to go through."

"Actually, I probably flipped through the first few pages. I don't need to memorize it when I have a walking encyclopedia for a partner." The last word had barely left his lips when he had to duck out of the way of the pen that was aimed at his eye. He flipped Midorima the bird after the makeshift projectile landed somewhere with a clatter, no harm done to any innocent bystanders.

"Are you always such a jerk to your partner?" Despite the words, Kuroko sounded more humoured than admonishing.

"It's how I show my love." He returned, loving the breathy chuckle that floated through his phone, slightly distorted but still an absolute turn on. Checking the clock on the wall, Aomine asked, "Are you at home?"

"Yes. I just got back."

"Why don't you go over to Satsuki's for a movie?"

"I don't want to intrude. Momoi-san and I haven't seen each other since middle school."

"It's fine," Aomine dismissed his words nonchalantly. "You know me and Kise."

"Still…" Kuroko trailed off for a bit and Aomine heard the sounds of a bath being run. It was quiet for a while, but then Kuroko picked up from where he left off. "It would be awkward with Momoi-san and Kise-kun."

"It'll be weird for me too," the dark-haired man pointed out. "I'll be the third wheel if you're not there."

"I don't know where she lives." Was Kuroko really so reluctant to be with Momoi?

"I can pick you up." The static was starting to deafen him when he finally got an answer.

"Okay."

**xx**

Kuroko stared up at him, hands wet and covered in suds, dressed only in his boxer shorts. Aomine flashed him an approving grin.

"I like this kink."

"What is Aomine-kun doing here?" The suggestive leer he had on his face was duly ignored as Kuroko blinked at him, nonplussed. "I thought the movie was tonight?"

"It's still my day off." He explained, waiting for Kuroko to allow him room to pass. "So I came to pick up where we left off."

The smaller man seemed to mull over his words. "You mean go for ice cream?"

Aomine gaped at him, The pale skinned man returned the look with a curious smile. "I was joking."

Moving, he led the way into the apartment, disappearing down the hall into the bathroom without waiting for Aomine. The taller man followed suit, tugging his shirt off and dropping it callously along the way and undoing his belt in anticipation. Kuroko was bent over the edge of the bath tub, testing the temperature. Aomine bumped his knees into the back of his thighs, making him wobble slightly and wrapped tan arms around the tiny waist.

"I don't remember doing anything like this today." Kuroko said, leaning back into his chest anyway.

Aomine bent down to nip at his earlobe. His voice was husky; the feel of the small body in his arms awakening his desire and reminding him that it had been too long since they'd last been together. "Exactly."

Turning within the circle of his arms, Kuroko reached up and wrapped his arms around the dark-haired man's neck, pulling him down to give him a deep, probing kiss. It was apparent that he wasn't the only one that wanted this. "I think I missed you."

"You said you slept better without my snoring," Aomine accused as he pulled away from the kiss to pout down at Kuroko.

"I got used to it," Kuroko chuckled slightly at his childishness. "It's kind of cute."

Aomine snorted, ignoring the thumping going on in his chest. What was he, fifteen? "It's not cool to call a detective cute. It could ruin my image."

"But you are rather cute," Kuroko protested. "Like a big, furry, warm, teddy be-"

The word was lost as Aomine captured his lips in a kiss that was a far cry from cute.

**xx**

"Dai-kun! Tet-kun!" The pink-haired model chirped excitedly when she opened the door. "You're just in time for dinner!"

She twirled around and skipped off ahead of them, oblivious to the twin expressions of horror on her guests' faces. Kuroko leaned in slightly to whisper, "Please tell me Momoi-san's cooking has improved since middle school."

"The pots are still intact after, so I guess that's an improvement."

"What are you two standing there for? Come on!" Reluctantly, the pair walked in, Kuroko flashing Aomine a look that told him that if he died of food poisoning, the responsibility would rest solely on Aomine for insisting that he tag along.

"Kurokocchi~!" Kise appeared from behind, throwing himself at the two of them, an arm wrapping around each of their necks. "You came!"

"It would seem so," Kuroko responded, prying away the arm before he fell unconscious from the strangling hold. It had happened before. "How is Kise-kun?"

"I'm fine!" Honestly, Aomine thought, already feeling exhausted. The two of them were injecting caffeine every hour, he was sure. There was no other reason they would be so energetic all the time. God forbid they have a kid. Shuddering at the thought, Aomine almost didn't register Momoi calling him from the kitchen. Approaching cautiously, he peeped around the corner.

"What?"

"C'mere," the model beckoned him closer. Dread crawled up his spine as he spotted the spoon with something that looked painfully black swimming about it. He inched forward, resigned to his fate. He'd lost count of the number of times he had been her guinea pig. She held out the spoon. "Try it."

Sipping from it, he toyed with the soup, trying to get a feel of the taste with the little amount that he had taken. He blinked at her in surprise. "It's not bad."

"Really?" She exclaimed delightedly, clasping her hands together. "I'm so glad!"

"Where'd you learn how to cook?" He plucked the spoon out of compliant fingers and dipped it into the pot, taking a bigger sip.

"Ryou-kun has been teaching me," Momoi replied with a blush.

"Oh?" He smirked at her. "Is he spending that much time here?"

"It's none of your business." She returned hotly, the blush creeping higher.

"I bet he's practically moved in, huh?" he continued, gleefully determined to extort every bit of embarrassment out of her. "Does he have his things in your shower?"

"Stop it," she snapped at him, smacking him lightly on the arm, face a bright cherry tomato red. Aomine laughed, ruffling her hair as she huffed at him disgruntledly.

Outside in the living room, Kise and Kuroko watched the childhood friends interact over the bar counter that divided the kitchen from the rest of the apartment.

"They look really good together, huh?" Kise's voice was wistful. Kuroko nodded wordlessly. They made a striking pair, with their shocking hair colours and with how attractive they were individually.

"Kise-kun looks really good with Momoi-san, too." At his quiet words, Kise turned to him in surprise, before smiling happily.

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course."

"Kurokocchi and Aominecchi look good together, too." Kise said, sounding like he was confessing to something. "You smile more when you're with him."

Pale blue eyes widened slightly. "That's not true."

"It is," Kise declared. He looked down at his hands, not wanting to meet Kuroko's probing glance. His words were whispered, forcing Kuroko to bend forward to catch them. "When we were together you didn't smile as much as you do now."

"That…" After their break-up they had remained friends, and neither had ever mentioned that part of their relationship since. Kuroko had known Kise for years, and knew how to read him. Yet, he had never noticed that the blonde man was so observant of his expressions. Unable to continue, he didn't try, knowing that no words would be appropriate.

"I wish," Kise began with a small sigh. "That I had been able to make you happy."

His words settled around them, filling up the cracks in the silence that was occasionally broken by whiffs of the conversation going on in the kitchen. Finally, Kuroko spoke. "You made me happy."

Kise looked up, topaz eyes filling up his face. Kuroko laid a gentle hand on top of Kise's larger ones. "But I think what we have right now makes us both happier."

Bright yellow eyes stared at the pale hand placed over his own for a moment before a huge grin lit up his face. "Yeah, I think so too."

**xx**

"Hey Satsuki," Aomine called over his shoulder as he stood in front of a display shelf. "When'd you start collecting these?"

"Oh, those," Momoi padded over from where she had been shuffling through a pile of DVDs for the movie they were watching that night. Kise and Kuroko were in the kitchen doing the dishes. "Kou-kun used to buy them for me when he went overseas."

Aomine's look was sharp when he turned around. "Do you still collect them?"

"No, but Kou-san still sends me one or two occasionally."

"I see," he muttered. Picking one up, he turned it over, scrutinizing it. "He said he hadn't run into you, though."

"Yeah, we haven't met in a really long time." Momoi reached for one of the mini cameras. "He usually leaves them with my manager."

"He's avoiding you?"

"I don't think so. It's just that I'm hardly ever at the agency since I need to move around for shoots, so we don't have the chance to see each other."

"I see," he repeated and placed the object back in its spot. When he looked at her again, he didn't look the least bit perturbed. "So, what movie are we watching?"

"Momoicchi," Kise appeared beside them, expression forlorn. "I forgot to buy the drinks earlier."

"Oh! I forgot about them too!" she frowned. "Dai-kun, can you go get some from the convenience store downstairs?"

"Sure," he agreed readily enough. It would be a good opportunity to call Midorima.

"I'll go with Aominecchi," Kise piped up, ignoring the immediate shake that Aomine directed at him. "It was my fault after all."

Unable and unwilling to expand the energy needed to protest, Aomine shrugged wordlessly and headed for the door, checking his pockets for his phone and wallet. Kise was a step behind him, and they walked in silence for a bit before the blonde model spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" Kise asked, coming abreast with the tan man.

"Shoot," he replied.

"Has Momoicchi ever had any…. stalkers?" Aomine stopped suddenly, directing the other man a narrow look.

"Not any that she's told me about." He answered slowly. "Why?"

"She's been getting these letters in the mail recently that she throws away without opening." Aomine watched detachedly as the air in front of Kise condensed with his words. "When I ask her about it she refuses to say anything, just tells me to not worry."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Kise shrugged, looking guilty. "I believed her when she said I shouldn't worry."

"What changed your mind then?" Aomine asked, slipping his rapidly numbing hands into his coat pockets.

"I grabbed her mail before she got to it the other day and took it out," he fished around in his coat pocket and procured a small envelope. "She looked so relieved when she saw that it was missing from the pile."

Aomine accepted the plain piece of folded paper and flipped up the flap. A shiver ran down his spine that was not caused by the cold. Inside were multiple pictures, about ten approximately, of the pink-haired model in various places at different times. They looked eerily familiar.

"How long has she been getting these?" he demanded.

"I'm not sure. I only started noticing about three weeks back."

"How often do they come?"

"So far, once a week."

"Shit," Aomine murmured under his breath. He nailed Kise with a sharp glare. "I need you to keep an eye on her. Never let her out of your sight."

"Of course," he replied immediately, tone defensive. "That's why I'm staying over nearly every night."

At the admission Aomine relaxed a bit. In retrospect, it was probably what Kise had been trying to talk to him about on the few occasions they had crossed paths. "We should hurry up and get those drinks. I'm freezing my ass off."

**xx**

Aomine felt like his spine was going to fall out of his back, he was so exhausted. Trudging up the stairs to his floor slowly, he rubbed his eyes wearily, letting his mask drop for the first time that night. After the movie had ended, the bloody blonde had suggested a board game which Momoi had jumped at, forcing Kuroko and him to stay for another two hours. He'd walked Kuroko to his apartment where they had stood, propped up by the wall beside the door, lips locked until neither could feel their fingers anymore.

He had rather delightedly caught the disappointment that flashed across Kuroko's face when he had turned down the offer to spend the night, simply because he had to be at the station early in the morning, and he was absolutely drained. It took more willpower than he had ever thought he was capable of to turn himself around and walk away from those huge, bright blue eyes and parted lips, reddened from their kiss. But he did it. He is now a stronger man.

Pulling out his keys, he nudged them into the lock, focused only on the image of his bed that beckoned. Toeing his door open, he shuffled forward, stopping abruptly when he heard a rustle and felt a slight point poke at the tip of his shoe. Dark eyes glanced down, using the meager lighting from the common walkway outside to squint at the small, flat object on his floor. Even with his brain addled as it was, he recognized it for what it was, and bent down guardedly to pick it up.

Long fingers moved quickly, flipping it over and undoing the flap that held it shut as soon as he noticed – with no surprise – that it was unmarked. The pictures that spilled out into his waiting hand froze his entire body, muscles contracting and he momentarily forgot how to breathe. Mari's face was clearly seen in the first one, and the second, and third, and fourth. All of them obviously within a day, as she was wearing the same clothes. Beside her stood Aomine, smiling at something she mentioned. In the next few, Aomine was still in the frame, assisting her out of the car, out of her apartment complex, and following her into her brother's.

He rotated the pictures and nearly dropped the pile. He tried to still the shaking of his hands as he looked through the remaining five pictures, the subject a man of average height with skin so pale it was nearly white and a shock of sky blue hair that contrasted spectacularly with his skin tone. Those, too, were taken in one day, and Aomine recognized the clothes as the same that Kuroko had on that day during their outing with Ryouko. Aomine was not present in any of the pictures, and neither was Ryouko, but it was little consolation to him. He knew what it meant, knew what message was being sent across.

Instinctively, he flipped the last photo of Kuroko smiling down at Ryouko over, cursing angrily as he read the words written on the back of it.

_Do you know where they are?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Yay, another chapter at last! School's been really hectic, and I've only managed to get some time to myself to write tonight but I'm moderately satisfied with this chapter. It could probably be longer, but I like ending it where it is, because all crime dramas need a lot of cliffhangers. :D **

**I'm amazed that I've actually hit chapter 20. Honestly, I never thought that the cheesy, sappy word vomit I had initially dreamed up would turn into the monster that it now is. A shoutout to all of you who've been with me since the first upload of this! You guys make me so happy :')**

* * *

The sound of banging on his door made him pause in the motion of brushing his teeth and glance over his shoulder with a frown. It was late, and he was in dire need of some sleep. Rinsing his mouth, he padded slowly towards the door, hoping that the person on the other side of the door would get the hint and leave before he reached it. Unfortunately for him, the banging only seemed to get louder, and he hastened to undo the latch when he saw the wood bend slightly from the impact.

"Wh—Aomine?" The furrow in his forehead deepened as he stared at the detective who was slightly winded from the exertion.

"I need you to go to Tetsu," the navy-haired man panted, the urgency in his voice transparent. "Go to him, and stay with him."

Kagami opened his mouth and then shut it again. He wanted to say something scathing to show just how annoyed he was to be presented such a ridiculous request so late at night, but upon closer inspection he noticed that Aomine was white underneath his tan and his hands were trembling slightly.

"What's going on?" The redhead asked concernedly. Even when he was completely drunk, Kagami had never seen the other man looking so flustered.

"I don't have time," Aomine snapped, tone unnecessarily harsh. He inhaled sharply and concentrated on calming his heart. When he felt better composed he shot Kagami an apologetic look. "I—I think he's in danger."

"Danger? Wha—" Kagami paused, thought better of it, and instead said, "Why can't you go over?"

"There's someone else I need to protect right now." And if he went over he'd just wrap himself around Kuroko and never leave the apartment. He glanced at his watch. This was taking too long. He needed to be somewhere else. He had called up Midorima the second he had gotten over the shock of seeing the pictures and had basically ordered the other man to head to where Mari was staying. "Look, I'll explain everything later, just please –"

Kagami held up a hand to silence him. His smile was understanding. "I'll keep you up to date."

Aomine was so relieved he could just hug the man. "Thank you."

**xx**

"It was a false alarm. There wasn't even a whiff of him."

Aomine grunted in response from where he had his forehead planted on top of his desk as he envisioned shooting the bastard murderer repeatedly in his mind.

"He was clearly trying to get you worked up, though." His green-eyed partner commented as he shuffled through the pictures. The silence echoed around the empty station until, "Your boyfriend is rather attractive."

"Dude," Aomine sat up to stare drolly at Midorima. "I have enough shit to worry about with this asshole, don't make me have to kill you, too."

The other man merely raised an eyebrow unperturbedly. "It was a compliment."

"Yeah, well, don't." The dark-haired man dropped his head onto the desk again, muffling the rest of his words. "He's mine."

"I would not have thought that you were the possessive sort, given that you hate those kinds of women the most."

It wasn't possessiveness per se – at least, he'd like to believe that – it was because he felt like if he looked away for a second too long, Kuroko would dance out of his reach. And just how frightening he found the idea was starting to worry him. "Me neither."

**xx**

"Ahomine!" The man whose name had been bastardized by the bellowed nick-named turned uninterested eyes towards the source, so sleep-deprived that he wasn't even startled, nor troubled by the enraged expression on his chief's face. Getting up slowly, he noticed detachedly that his chief also gestured for Midorima to join him, and he lingered until the other man was at his side before making their way towards the small office.

The second the door shut behind them, Aomine was jolted awake by the hand that slapped the side of his head forcefully.

"What the fuck?" He demanded, rubbing at the spot. The pain was instantaneous, and had faded just as quickly, but the area now throbbed with a dull ache that was bound to make the rest of his day miserable.

"Would you care to explain this?" Their Chief snapped, tossing an open file onto the desk, the action dislocating the multitude of photos it contained. Both detectives stared at the top photo, dumbstruck. Midorima turned disbelieving eyes to his partner.

Aomine stared until his vision became unfocused, struggling to think coherently. The photo was taken from outside the large display windows of Kagami's bar, and in it, the focus of the frame were two bulky figures, one of them clearly Aomine as he sat facing the window, the other, he knew to be Murasakibara, sat shrouded in shadow, was caught in the motion of pushing something across the bar towards Aomine. The tan man knew what the rest of the photos would contain, and he was not naïve enough to think that the culprit who had photographed him would also include shots of him shoving the envelope back to the purple-haired giant.

"I did not train you to be this kind of officer," his chief was yelling furiously. He had to resist the urge to turn around to see if anyone outside was paying attention. When his chief yelled, the whole station could hear him. "What happened to your morals? Your damn values? What the fuck was it that he offered you that had you doing something so despicable?!"

Aomine waited as patiently as he could for the tirade of words to taper off. When his chief stopped, chest heaving and expression expectant of an explanation, the dark-eyed man wordlessly turned on his heels and walked out of the office. The sound of fists slamming into wood accompanied him as he stalked over to his desk, tugged open a drawer, and grabbed the thin object on top of a pile of miscellaneous receipts and notes. Casually, he walked back to the office, ignoring the stares as his chief screamed for him to return.

Still silent, he tossed the disc on top of the folder containing the incriminating evidence and turned to leave again.

"What the hell is this?" His chief asked, staring at the unmarked disc suspiciously.

"Proof that I'm innocent," Aomine returned with a shrug. Midorima and the Chief shared a glance. The dark-skinned man was about to shut the door behind himself when a thought occurred to him and he walked back in to swipe the folder off the desk top.

"And where do you think you're going?" His chief questioned, tone less hostile. Aomine checked his watch. Lunch hour was still some ways away, meaning that he wouldn't have to worry about missing his target.

"Got a date with the devil."

**xx**

Aomine barely registered the decadently furbished lobby and sleek-looking front of the company as he all but kicked in the glass door in his rage. He had reined in his anger while he was at the station, but the journey over had allowed him time to absorb the situation and the accumulation of all the fucked up things plaguing him since the night before had him wanting to break bones with his bare hands.

He burst into the large office in a fashion reminiscent of a raging bull as the secretary was heard protesting a few steps behind him. Two heads swivel around at his entrance, but he only had eyes for one of them. The silence was only momentary as the man seated behind the desk waved a hand reassuringly at his secretary outside. To the man that stood frozen in fear in front of him, he smiled apologetically.

"If you would kindly wait outside for a while, it seems that something urgent has surfaced." Nodding dumbly, the man gathered the pages of his report hastily and dashed out, head bent to avoid the sharp eyes that glared at him as he hurried past.

Once they were left alone, the earlier man having shut the doors as he left, the seated man steepled his fingers with a pleasant smile. "You have impeccable timing. I was getting bored of all the numbers."

"What the hell are you doing?" Aomine said curtly. He had not come here to chat.

Gold and red eyes blinked at him. "Trying to conduct a civil conversation."

"I mean with this," he retorted exasperatedly, as he took a few strides forward to throw the folder onto the expensive looking desk. "It nearly got me fired!"

"Nearly?" Akashi asked mildly as tapered fingers reached forward to pull the file towards him. Aomine waited as Akashi looked through the photos slowly, expression blank. When he was done he closed the file carefully and slid it back across the desk. "This seems very incriminating. How are you still a detective?"

"I got CCTV footage from the bar."

"I see," The redhead nodded thoughtfully. "How unexpectedly brilliant."

The silence that settled in between them was palpable with tension as the two men stared each other down.

"Well?!" Aomine finally burst out.

Akashi raised an eyebrow in question. "I beg your pardon?"

"Why are you going to such lengths to keep me from Tetsu?" The taller of the two demanded.

"You are the detective, surely you can conclude that this is not the work of someone under me."

"I don't believe you."

Sighing tiredly, Akashi pursed his lips. "I offered you that bribe as a test, I am sure you are aware of that. It was not my intention to trouble you to such an extent."

Aomine leveled him a disbelieving look.

"Would it be to my benefit to upset my brother?" Akashi asked pointedly. "Plus, such a blatant display of unimaginative amateurism is an insult to what I stand for."

"I didn't think you stood for anything." Aomine snorted, much more toned down now that he knew that he was in the wrong place. He was starting to regret his decision now that his mind wasn't clouded with anger. He knew that Akashi operated from this building, it was something the whole damn country knew, but it would take a different type of idiot to stampede into the office.

He was not feeling good about himself.

Akashi was silent for a bit as he studied the detective, head cocked slightly to the side. "You should not criticize your own kind."

"I have no relation to you," Aomine shot back, eyes narrowed.

"So you would have the world believe," Akashi looked at him curiously. "Tell me, why do you hide? Your father does his job admirably, there is nothing to be ashamed of."

The other man stiffened. "We're not talking about my old man."

"Indeed," the redhead muttered. "A piece of advice, if you'll take it."

"Why?"

"I cannot possibly get rid of you without enraging my brother, so I may as well accept that you will be around for a while until he gets tired of you."

Choosing not to bite, Aomine waited quietly for him to continue.

"Tetsuya is a forgiving man. He is not one to judge who you are based on your history." The navy-haired man was about to reply when a loud beeping sounded from a side table across the room, making him jump.

"Excuse me," Akashi coolly walked across the carpeted floor and shut the alarm off. He then pulled open a drawer and dug out a pill box. Aomine watched him, but didn't comment.

"I have a heart condition. Too much stress and excitement could kill me," Akashi proffered to the room at large. His smile was sardonic as he spun around to return to his seat. "It is rather ironic that I ended up in such a line of work, don't you think?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Aomine mumbled vaguely.

"Here." The dark-haired man looked suspiciously at the envelope that was pushed towards him as Akashi settled back in his chair.

"What is it?"

"Something to help your investigation." Akashi replied, looking completely absorbed in his medication. "You are taking much too long."

Aomine stared at the peculiarly-eyed man in incredulity. "You know who is doing all this?"

"Perhaps," Akashi conceded. "Nonetheless, even if my guess is wrong, this will be of assistance."

The taller man was at a complete loss. Struggling hard to grasp the situation as his brain kept reminding him that he was not at his best, he managed a, "Why?"

"I have a large investment in the agency that is currently being targeted. My accountant, which you had rather rudely cut off, was just telling me that we were making severe losses because the girls were unwilling to model for fear of their safety."

"No, I mean, why not just solve this by yourself?"

Akashi shot him an amused look. "One does not get very far up the ladder by taking things into one's own hand. That is what people like you are for."

This was wrong. He didn't want to be in the demon redhead's debt. "I won't –"

"Think of it as payment for keeping your silence about my medical condition. You can imagine that it will dramatically influence public perception of me." Akashi interrupted.

Aomine stared a hole into the desk before saying, "You expected this."

"I merely covered all the bases. If you had listened to your instinct more I would not be required to interfere like this."

"My instinct?" Aomine frowned.

"I'm sure you already know who it is. Well, that is assuming that you have the same level of intelligence that your partner has."

"You…" Aomine began, wanting to ask him if there was no information that was sacred.

"Yes?" The mismatched eyes that returned his glare were disconcerting.

"Nothing," he said, picking up the file.

"By the way," Akashi said just as Aomine was about to leave. "Have you gone through the contents of the thumb drive?"

"No," he was wary of the thing. He wasn't sure if it could create a path for Akashi to go through his personal files. However, now he was starting to wonder if he should bother worrying about it.

"You should. That information will be invaluable to you in the near future."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't. But you do not have many options, do you?"

Aomine really wanted to wipe the smirk off the smaller man's face. He had no idea how Kuroko was able to put up with such an arrogant jerk. He paused, hand on the handle of the door. "Just for the record, I'm in it only for Tetsu."

"I know," Akashi replied, as he analyzed some papers in front of him. "It is the only reason why no one has had to fish your body parts out of the rivers."

**xx**

"Where the hell were you?" Midorima demanded as Aomine sat down opposite him. "Chief's been blowing his top all morning because of you."

"I know who it is," Aomine cut his partner off before Midorima could complain about how he had been the scapegoat in Aomine's place. It got him the intended effect. Green eyes widened in shock behind the glasses.

"What?"

"These," Aomine passed the file he had received from Akashi over to the other detective. He had gone through the contents earlier, and had had time to digest the information. He was pretty sure that the expression of confusion mixed with disbelief on Midorima's face was identical to what he had on when he had first gone through it.

"How did you get these?" Midorima asked, tossing him a narrowed glance. "It wasn't that guy from the bar, was it?"

"You saw me push the money back. Why would I go look for him and tell him I changed my mind now?"

"I don't know," the other man muttered almost under his breath. "You have a knack for doing stupid things."

He couldn't really disagree. What he had actually gone and done was infinitely more stupid than looking up Murasakibara and talking to him.

"Anyway," he chose to ignore the words. "Satsuki has all of these models. I saw them when I went over last night."

"Momoi-san?" Midorima frowned. "She can't possibly be the killer."

"No, and she never buys the cameras. They're all gifts." Aomine paused for effect, enjoying himself immensely now that his day was finally starting to redeem itself. Midorima leaned forward, expression clearly impatient. "Kou Shougo sends them through her manager."

**xx**

He felt like skipping. The day had been getting progressively better ever since they figured out that it was Momoi's ex who was the face behind all the killings. At that very point in time, Midorima and a handful of other law enforcers were waiting for the man at his apartment. As soon as they arrested him the case would be closed and he could take time off his job to relax. Preferably in a foreign country with a certain pale blue-haired man by his side.

For now, he would have to settle for a relaxing day with his bed. The fatigue he felt was overwhelming, and he had barely managed to drive home without falling asleep. It was the only reason he wasn't skipping his way up to his apartment.

When he pushed the key into the lock, the thought that maybe something was waiting to ambush him on the other side of the door did admittedly cross his mind. But it was something fleeting, and he had his gun on him. In the state that he was in, anyone short of Kuroko on the other side of the wooden structure would probably get shot, even Momoi.

He trudged into the dark hallway, happy to note that nothing had been shoved into his body yet, and proceeded to kick off his shoes as he let his eyes adjust to the dull lighting struggling to cast it's pathetic shine over the apartment.

It was when he had tossed his keys onto the table by the door that his eyes had gotten used to the gloom and he finally noticed his surroundings. Feeling his heart sink, and hoping fervently that he was delirious from the lack of sleep, he flipped the switch for the light, blinking away the momentary blindness that followed the sudden burst of harsh fluorescent light.

Surrounding him was utter chaos. There was nothing left in its original place, even the heaviest pieces of his furniture had been toppled and stacked all through the living room in such a way that it would take some hazardous maneuvering to be able to cross the makeshift boundary. He climbed over the collapsed cupboard that had been the home of his basketball trophies that were now tossed around his living room, some in broken pieces.

Cautiously peeping around the corner of his room, he saw his clothes strewn around, torn and stretched, along with everything save his built-in wardrobe completely dismantled. His kitchen was in a similar state, with all his drawers scattered over the floor, bits of what he surmised had at one point been his dining table and chairs, and his fridge flat on the ground, the weight of the object having severed the wire connecting it to the power. In his bathroom, as almost everything was attached to the wall with cement, only the products that he used had been tossed about violently, and his mirror was cracked, having been smashed in by the leg of one of his chairs that now sat on the floor of his bathroom.

Across the broken glass, something red – possibly blood – was smeared in a streak. If it truly was blood, that the perpetrator had injured himself while smashing in the mirror.

Aomine turned to look back at the chaos he had stumbled through, the only thought he was capable of processing as he pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial for Midorima was that he was going to need some seriously strong coffee.

* * *

**I dunno if Akashi is weird in this… He's always very formal, yes, but he's also supposed to give off this disturbing vibe, and I don't think I captured that very well here =/ Well, at least I portrayed his brother complex decently. I think. **


	21. Chapter 21

**I'm not even going to go into a full-blown explanation of why I fell off the face of the earth. But I have returned, if only briefly. This chapter took me especially long because of all the assignments I had due and also because this thing was compiled in parts. I have no idea why, but it took me a really long time to get this together, but here it is! **

**A heads up, finals are a week from now, so do not expect anything from me until after mid-July. If something pops up, I'm either dead or procrastinating. Possibly both. **

**As always, enjoy and let me know what you think!**

* * *

"You've really pissed this guy off, haven't you?"

"Shut up, none of this would've happened if you'd found the asshole sooner."

"May I remind you that you were the one who brushed off my suspicions?"

"Okay, geez, I get it, I'm sorry."

Aomine stared out the windscreen sullenly, slumped in the passenger seat of the car belonging to the man who had only recently been bumped down to second on his list of people that should be fed to sharks on account of the first spot being taken by the damned idiot who thrashed his place. The patter of raindrops on the vehicle and the soft rev of the engine were the only things heard for a while. Midorima had gone over to Aomine's apartment when he received the call, leaving a few officers on guard at their suspect's place. He had been told that the place was in pretty bad shape, but he hadn't realized the magnitude of it until he had knocked on the door and something had crashed behind it. It had taken a lot of shoving and several curses on Aomine's part before they managed to nudge the door open enough for the navy-haired detective to squirm out.

"Was there anything missing?" the green-eyed man tried for something less accusatory.

Aomine sighed heavily. "Not that I could see, but it'd be pretty hard to tell with everything the way it is. My safe was still locked."

Midorima nodded. Every police personnel had a safe. It wasn't a procedure, but when you saw people getting mugged every day, you tend to develop at least a bit of paranoia. Midorima was one of only two people who knew the combination for Aomine's safe. It was top-notch, the only thing in his apartment that Aomine had actually invested time and effort in purchasing and would take more than an amateur crook to get into.

"So, where do you want to go?" Out of his peripherals the bespectacled man caught sight of the glance his partner shot him. It was probably a confused look.

"What d'you mean 'where'?" The man was so easy to read it didn't even take any effort on his part.

"You need a place to stay for the night."

"Aren't we going back to Kou Shougo's place?"

Midorima threw an annoyed look at the other man. "I don't need you on a manhunt when you can barely think straight."

He expected a snide comeback that didn't happen. Aomine was silent for a bit and then, "Satsuki's will have to do I guess."

"What about your boyfriend?" The green-eyed detective asked. He heard a sigh from his passenger seat.

"I don't want to bother Tetsu at this time. He'll probably get all pointlessly worked up over it too."

"Pointless, you say," came the dry reply. "You have a psychopath murderer out to get you and you think he shouldn't be worried?"

"This isn't his problem." Aomine responded flatly. Midorima would've choked the man if he didn't need both hands on the wheel. His partner could be more stubborn than a mule at the most inconvenient times.

"If he was in your shoes," he began, deciding that treating the matter gently would have better results than verbal or physical abuse. "How would you feel when you found out that he was keeping all of it from you because he didn't want to bother you?"

He could feel the stubbornness practically rolling off the slumped body beside him. "You already have a change of clothes at his place, don't you?"

"How the fuck do you know that?" Aomine demanded, straightening.

Midorima lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "You've come into work wearing different clothes but you still smell like a different cologne."

"Damn creeper."

Midorima chose to ignore the words and instead said, "So, where does he live?"

**xx**

"Hel—" Kuroko's greeting was cut off as muscled arms wrapped around his waist and crushed him against the taller man's body, squeezing so tight that he was lifted a couple of inches off the ground. " – Aomine-kun?"

"Tetsu," he murmured into the creamy white skin of Kuroko's shoulder, inhaling the comforting blend of soap, vanilla, and laundry softener. The small body in his arms was a welcome source of warmth, seeping into his bones through where their skin made contact and soothing the ache inside. This was why he hadn't wanted to see the other man before. All he wanted to do now was crawl under the covers with the blue-haired man and stay there for a month. Everything about Kuroko calmed him, from the puffs of air he felt against his neck, to the fingers wriggling by his sides as he attempted to return the hug.

"What's wrong?" Kuroko tried craning his head back to meet the dark-haired man's eyes, frowning concernedly.

"Nothing," Aomine responded, the way his hold tightened slightly contradicting his words. He tried for a reassuring smile. "I'm just tired."

"You do look rather haggard," Kuroko conceded as he laced his fingers through Aomine's as soon as the detective set him down. "I'll run you a bath and then you can go to sleep."

Already turned to head towards the bathroom, Kuroko let out an involuntary squeak as he was tugged back into Aomine's chest, an arm encircling his front. He looked up, expression confused and opened his mouth to say something when the taller man leaned around and slipped his tongue into Kuroko's mouth. He tried protesting, but his arms were rendered useless by the tan arm wrapped around him. Aomine was insistent, tongue leading Kuroko's in a dance that made him forget what he was supposed to be doing.

The arm around him tightened, pressing him into the lithe frame, and the contact with the hard planes of Aomine's body sent a shaft of lightning down his spine. Aomine finally pulled away, face flushed beneath his tan and expression so saturated with want that Kuroko had to lean away before he completely forgot that it was past midnight on a weekday.

"… said you were tired," he tried to sound accusing, but it was punctured by short huffs of breath so it lost its effect.

"I am," it was some consolation that Aomine sounded just as worked up as he felt. "This is relaxing."

As though to prove his point Aomine resumed the kiss, this time keeping the pace languorous as he explored the crevices of the pale man's mouth. His kisses were heated one second and then sweet and tentative the next, and it was maddening, worrying, and an incredible turn on. Spinning within the circle of Aomine's arm, Kuroko wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck, using that as leverage to pull Aomine down while he stood up on his toes to meet him halfway. He returned the kiss with vigour, decidedly ignoring the nagging worry that nibbled at the back of his mind questioning the dark circles under Aomine's eyes.

When they parted, he ran the back of his fingers lightly over the slightly puffy skin under the taller man's eyes, expression questioning. What he got for an answer was another deep kiss that was probably aimed at distracting him. It did exactly that.

"Bath?" Kuroko asked one last time, just to be sure. Aomine shook his head and shuffled Kuroko backwards down the hall and into his bedroom. The backs of his knees hit the foot of the bed and he fell back onto the mattress, followed immediately by the substantially bulkier form of the dark-skinned man.

"I missed you," Aomine mumbled only just loud enough for the blue-haired man to hear as he ran a trail of kisses down the column of Kuroko's throat.

"It's barely been a full day," he replied vaguely, trying not to get lost in the heat of the fingers kneading the soft flesh of his hips.

"I know," he blinked at the irritation he detected in Aomine's voice. Blue eyes stared up at the man hovering over him, a small frown between his eyebrows. "Doesn't that just piss you off?"

"Why would it?" He asked, expression caught between amused and confused.

Aomine made a face and rolled off Kuroko onto his back. His words were directed at the ceiling. "I hated clingy chicks."

"Your personal preferences don't have anything to do with me," Kuroko replied wryly, eyes on the darkened fluorescent bulb overhead. The light from the hallway was barely enough for him to make out vague shapes by. He was glad that Aomine had gotten off him or he would have noticed the quickening of his heartbeat at the comment. He had known from the beginning that Aomine was not the sort of person who would appreciate excessive romance, and although he had not expected what had begun out of curiosity to last as long as it had, he had been careful to not seem too attached.

Kuroko would resist the urge to text or call the detective to ask him about his day, worried that it would seem as though he had nothing better to do than waste his time. Instead, he would wait for the other man to call him first. He still found it unnerving sometimes that he waited so impatiently for the other man to make the first move. In the past he would have been the first to contact his partner without a second's hesitation. Yet, for some reason, he was wary of scaring away Aomine. The more time they spent together, the harder it was to tell himself that it was like his previous experiences.

"Yes it does," Kuroko turned his head to the side, surprised. Dark eyes returned the gaze. "Now I'm the clingy one, it's annoying."

Kuroko bit his tongue to keep the smile in check. He pushed onto his side facing Aomine and propped the side of his head on his fist. "Would you rather I be the clingy one?"

"That would probably make me feel better about myself, yeah," the dark-skinned man nodded.

Kuroko feigned a thoughtful expression. "But what if you get annoyed with me?"

Aomine's expression mirrored his as he wrapped his arm around the petite waist of the blue-eyed man and tugged him closer. "I don't think so, the sex is too good to give up."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aomine flashed him a lopsided grin, their faces just fractions of an inch apart. "More like a curse. It means you'll be stuck having to deal with me for a while."

Kuroko let out an exaggerated sigh. "Just my luck."

He was surprised when instead of a continuation of where they had left off, Aomine planted a soft kiss on his forehead to end the conversation and proceeded to wrap his knees and arms around Kuroko and bury his nose in the tuft of light blue strands. It was barely a minute later when Kuroko felt his breathing deepen and even out. At a loss, he could only stare at the chest he was pressed against as he wondered how he was going to get out of the larger man's hold without waking him up.

When he tried to slide away slowly, the arms around him tightened and Aomine nuzzled the top of his head.

"Don't go." The sleepy mumble that floated down to him had his eyes widening and a blush crept up his cheeks in spite of himself. He cast his eyes down despite knowing that Aomine had not even consciously said that. Kuroko let out a huff. That actually just made it worse.

"Stop making me fall for you," he scolded the shirt in front of him. Eyes sliding shut, he pressed his forehead against Aomine's chest, comforted in the soft rhythm of the rise and fall of his breathing. He was in too deep, and all he could do was hope that this fantasy wouldn't collapse around him. It almost made him wish that he hadn't given in to the curiosity when they had first met, but at the same time he felt like he was willing to bear the pain of it ending, just for how happy being with Aomine made him.

"Stupid Ahomine." It was his fault that Kuroko couldn't stop falling.

**xx**

When the sun hit the side of his face, it took him a few seconds to recall that Kuroko's room faced to the west. His eyes popped open and he scrambled out of the blanket cocoon he had made for himself, fumbling through his pockets for his phone. They were empty, but before he had a chance to panic he saw the device sitting innocently on the bedside table. He scooped it up, frowning when he saw no missed calls or unread messages. The screen showed that it was five pm, a fact that usually meant he would be bombarded with calls and text messages from Midorima. He checked the network signal on his phone just to be sure.

"Ah, you're awake." Aomine looked up from his phone, startled. He hadn't heard the other man. Kuroko smiled at him teasingly. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he echoed with an answering tilt to his lips and waved his phone at Kuroko. "Did anyone call?"

"Yes, your partner – Midorima-san? – called this morning. I told him that you were still sleeping and he left a message asking you to call him when you woke up."

"Oh," he said, relieved. He had been worried that Midorima might have been shot dead. He eyed the plain white shirt and khaki pants that consisted of Kuroko's work uniform. "Work?"

"I just got home," the blue-haired man replied, turning and walking out of the room. "I made some food in case you were hungry."

Aomine followed him out of the room, but instead of turning towards the kitchen, Kuroko went the opposite way to the bathroom, leaving Aomine to figure out if all of the twenty something dishes laid out on the table was meant just for him. He heard the shower start as he grabbed a bowl and piled on a heap of rice. He was about to sit down at the table when there was a click barely audible over the sound of water running from the direction of the front door. The detective froze, chopsticks hovering over the nearest dish as he strained to catch any other sound. The sound of the door shutting with a small click was unmistakable.

He wrapped his fingers around the chopsticks in a grip, prepared to use the pointed wood as weapons as his gun was somewhere in Kuroko's room along with all the other necessities he had managed to salvage in the chaos that was his apartment. Taking careful, silent steps, he crept over to the wall, leaning around slowly to try to catch a glimpse of who the intruder was.

There was a flash of red as the man straightened from arranging three pairs of shoes in front of the door. Swallowing the expletive on the tip of his tongue, Aomine relaxed his hold on the chopsticks and rounded the corner, startling a yelp out of the other man who jumped back, hand to his heart.

"What the hell, Aomine?" Kagami demanded, glaring viciously at him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"It's your fault for sneaking in like that," Aomine deadpanned. "Couldn't you have knocked or something? I nearly stabbed you."

Kagami raised an eyebrow at the chopsticks Aomine produced from his side. "With those?"

Aomine returned the look coolly. "Why don't I show you just how I would do it?"

The redhead shook his head quickly. "What're you doing here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Aomine led the way into the kitchen.

"Kuroko said he cooked too much and asked me if I wanted some." Aomine nodded, squashing the childish voice that petulantly wished that he didn't have to share anything Kuroko made with the redhead, even though he was well aware that he couldn't finish everything set out on the table.

"Well?" Aomine raised an eyebrow in question as he resumed his seat. Kagami sat down opposite him with enough rice to feed a family of four for a month and began piling on pieces of chicken and vegetable onto the precarious mound. "What're you doing here?"

"I don't need a reason to visit my boyfriend," he replied, more than a little smug. Kagami rolled his eyes in reply.

"It's disgusting seeing the two of you so love-struck," Kagami snorted. He made a face, swallowing a ludicrous amount of food before he spoke again. "When you brought over your things he was so happy he—"

"Who was happy?" Kuroko padded into the kitchen, towel draped over his head and a vaguely interested look on his face. Kagami instantly stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth and began chewing furiously.

"No one," he murmured around the mouthful.

Aomine watched the man opposite him, intrigued and dying for him to finish the sentence. One glance at Kuroko told him that it was probably not in their best interest for him to ask Kagami to continue. He silently speared an egg roll.

"How's the food?" Kuroko asked, retrieving a bottle of water from the fridge.

"S'good but the egg rolls are pretty salty," Kagami answered before Aomine had a chance to. The egg rolls were perfect as far as he was concerned, since he didn't have much of a sweet tooth. Yet, in spite of his words, the dark-skinned man had never seen the bartender look so blissfully happy.

"Really?" Kuroko leaned around Aomine's shoulder and nicked the second egg roll he had picked up. Dark eyes watched the pale jaw work as he chewed, so close to him that he could feel the damp from the light blue strands. Kagami's loud cough snapped him out of his trance in time to watch Kuroko swallow and nod. "They are salty, but I did it on purpose since Aomine-kun doesn't like sweet stuff."

Aomine was taken aback. He didn't recall ever mentioning his preference to Kuroko. The other man seemed to sense his confusion and pecked him on the lips with a small smile. "I pay attention."

With that, he walked out of the kitchen, leaving the two men in awkward silence.

"Just get married already," Kagami muttered disgustedly, not looking up from his food. A smirk lighted up his features when the detective started to cough violently as the food he was chewing on went down the wrong pipe.

**xx**

"Do you have everything you need?" Kuroko asked as he slipped on his shoes. Nodding, Aomine hoisted the backpack containing most of his worldly goods securely onto his shoulder.

"I probably won't be able to come over for a while," he began. He hadn't explained the state of his apartment to Kuroko, not wanting to worry him. "Work's getting really busy."

"Ah, you should come back here," Kuroko produced a single silver key and held it out to him. "I asked Kagami-kun to give you his key until I can make another copy."

Aomine stared at it like he'd never seen one before. "What?"

"Your partner explained that your apartment got robbed when I spoke to him this morning. He expected that you wouldn't tell me because you didn't want me to be concerned."

He didn't know if he should hug the green-eyed idiot or shoot him. The fact that there was only the slightest hint of reproach in Kuroko's voice made him cringe with guilt inside. "Thanks."

Kuroko flashed him a brilliant smile and hooked a hand around his neck to pull him down for a quick kiss. "Have a good day."

**xx**

He stood by the sidewalk, wary of everyone that walked past. Too many bad things had been happening to him, he really couldn't afford to be letting his guard down. A frown scrunching up his handsome features, he glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time. Midorima was late, much later than he should be despite the rush hour traffic. He was fiddling with his phone, debating if he should call his partner when a sleek, black Mercedes pulled up in front of him. Cocking an eyebrow, he waited for the darkened window to roll down, not in the least bit surprised by the appearance of the vehicle.

Instead of the window sliding down, the rear door opened and an expensively clad foot appeared, followed by another. Aomine silently waited for the rest of the person to exit the car, and only spoke once the man had shut the door.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to stick your nose into my business."

The other man stiffened slightly, dark eyes narrowing at the younger of the two. "Is that how you greet family?"

"It's how I greet nosy people."

The suited man looked the casually dressed detective up and down, lips pursed. He, too, was tan, but not as much as Aomine was, due to the fact that he had spent a good portion of his life cooped up in an office. "You've lost weight."

Aomine rolled his eyes at the concerned words that were voiced without emotion. "That's mom's job, at least get that much right."

"Must you be so rude?" The other man asked with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Aomine noted that there were more white strands than the last time they had crossed paths.

"I wonder where I got it from," he retorted. "What do you want?"

"I'm sure you know," his father said, leaning back against the vehicle. "You didn't seem surprised when you saw the car."

The detective shrugged. "You have a knack of showing up at the worst time. I figured it would be sooner or later."

"I hear that there is a serial killer on your trail."

"And?"

"You do not seem as concerned as one in such a predicament should be."

"And?"

He felt a thrill of satisfaction at the annoyed twitch in the older man's face. "You need to take care of yourself."

"Is that all you came to say?" Aomine asked, sounding bored.

"This is a serious matter."

"Yeah, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Honestly, I don't know when you became so prickly. Is it so bad that I am concerned of the wellbeing of my only son?"

"I became 'prickly'," Aomine began snidely. "When my mother and I got kicked out of our home onto the streets with nothing but the clothes on our backs because the new mistress of the house didn't like the way we took up space."

At least the man he was unfortunately related to had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. The moment soon passed, though, and the man resumed his impassive façade. "Your mother has forgiven me –"

"Yeah, and that still pisses me off." Aomine interrupted. His mother was a kind soul, this they both knew. She was also still completely, and utterly smitten by the same man who had tossed them out onto the streets without a second thought after he had gotten bored of her. Aomine knew without a doubt that he had worked to seek them out after years of no contact only because his other wives had not borne any children.

"I made a mistake. I was a young and foolish man," the older of the two said quietly. "She found it in her heart to forgive me, why can't you?"

Aomine stared defiantly at the weary pair of eyes that were the same shade of blue that his were. The bitterness had not dimmed, nor the hatred he felt towards the man whom he resembled so closely. Forgiveness was not something in his nature. "As far as I'm concerned, my father died the day we left. The only parent I've ever truly had is my mother."

He turned on his heels, no longer caring that Midorima had not arrived. Knowing his father like he did, he had probably convinced Midorima to let him come in his stead, and he'd be damned if he was getting in the car with the man. He froze when he saw the blue tuft of hair approach from the apartment complex, expression a mixture of surprise and curiosity as bright eyes darted between the two tall men. Kuroko came to a halt in front of the detective and shot him a worried glance.

"Midorima-san has not arrived?" Aomine shook his head, resisting the urge to look back over his shoulder. He didn't need the man seeing the flustered look on his face. He prayed that he would leave without bothering Kuroko.

"Excuse me, you seem to know my son." The voice that floated over his shoulder sounded pleasantly curious, and Aomine swallowed the curse he wanted to throw at the man.

"Your son?" Kuroko repeated, looking up at Aomine for confirmation.

"This is the guy who fathered me." He gave in to the searching blue orbs swimming with questions. He was going to regret this later, he knew it. "This is Kuroko."

"Just Kuroko?" his father raised an eyebrow.

Aomine shot him a poisonous glare. "That's all you need to know."

He turned to leave again, this time with a hand wrapped firmly around Kuroko's upper arm.

"Daiki," he heard the call as he dragged the smaller, unprotesting man away. "Midorima-kun told to send you to the station!"

"I'm not going," he threw back. "You can tell that asshole to go fuck himself."

He continued walking, unmindful of where they were headed, so long as it was away from the man.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko's voice was so soft that he barely heard it. "You're hurting me."

Immediately, he stopped and loosened his grip. Kuroko's arm where his fingers had been was a bright red. Letting go of the limb completely, he looked away, ashamed that he had let Kuroko see such an ugly side of him.

"Is he really your father?" Kuroko asked, voice still barely audible.

"Like I said, he fathered me," he replied. "Doesn't mean he's my dad."

Kuroko remained silent for a while, looking thoughtful.

"If I ask, will you tell me?"

Aomine returned the serious stare with a contemplative one. He swallowed. There was no reason to hide anymore.

"Yes."

"Okay," Kuroko nodded, his face brightening instantly. He slipped his hand into Aomine's larger one, unperturbed by the looks he drew. "Let's go home."


	22. Chapter 22

**Why did this take so long, you ask? Because Aomine is an ass for messing with Kuroko and I hate him so intensely right now, how do I write a romance between the two when all I want to do is strangle him to death or until he gets down on his knees and apologizes to Kuroko. **

**Anyway, on a happier note, I spent the whole day writing and literally only just realized that it's past midnight. And here I was, thinking it was ten past eight. It also only recently dawned on me that our evil mastermind shares the same first name as Haizaki. Why I didn't see this before, I have no idea. But I can tell you that it was completely unintentional.**

**Hope this is to your satisfaction! I've reread it so many times that I've probably missed a few mistakes here and there so let me know if you spot any! **

**As always, enjoy and do let me know what you think!**

* * *

"They met when my mum was pretty young. He was on a job in Germany and she was there on holiday with her family."

"Wait," Kuroko interrupted, putting his mug of tea down with a click on the dining table that divided them. "What do you mean he was on a job?"

"He's ex-yakuza. That was when he still worked for them." Aomine replied, stirring his untouched tea absentmindedly. "He quit after mum got pregnant."

Kuroko nodded for him to continue. "Anyway, it was straight out of a chick-lit book. They fell for each other and then when they came back to Japan, he found her and they started going out officially. He was pretty high-ranked in the yakuza, which was why my gramps was against the relationship, but mum was completely into him. Couple of years later they got married and had me. He left the yakuza, and started working for the government instead."

"What did he do?"

Aomine shrugged. "I never found out. According to gramps, it was some pretty shady stuff but mum said it was mostly office work. Whatever it was, he was good at it and he climbed up the ladder pretty fast. He got harder jobs and had to stay back to work late every night. It was around then that mum found out that he was having affairs."

"Affairs?"

"Affairs," Aomine confirmed with a sardonic tilt of his lips. "He was sleeping with nearly every female in the whole damn building."

"You mother must have been upset." Kuroko said softly. He watched as dark eyes softened with sadness. Aomine shook his head.

"Gramps was probably more upset than she was. Mum's the kind of person who'd bless the jackass who robbed her on the streets." Glancing away, Aomine made a face. "She was convinced it was just the stress of work. Even when he came home at night stinking of booze and perfume she'd wait on him hand and foot. Then one day he showed up with this chick with blonde hair and a face and body made out of plastic and told my mum that he was gonna marry her."

"Mum was upset, but she didn't resist it. He promised that he'd take care of us and make sure that we never wanted for anything. But after the wedding the bitch convinced him that we were leeching off him and that we were 'interrupting their personal time together'," Aomine nearly spat out the last few words. He stopped to take a deep breath, unclenching the hand he hadn't realized that he had fisted. "Long story short, he screwed up on his promise and mum and I ended up on the streets with practically nothing."

Aomine fell silent. Kuroko slid his hand across the table and hooked their fingers together. His words were soft, "What happened then?"

"We moved in with gramps. Mum raised me by working two jobs. I was a pretty messed up kid, though." This time his smile was less mocking as he stared off into space. "I got in with the wrong crowd and nearly got the life beaten out of me at one point. A cop scraped me off the sidewalk and put me back together and then whacked some sense into me. He said, 'Even if you ain't got any sense of self-preservation, at least think about your parents.' And then I remembered how mum would cry every night. Every night for a year, I could hear her sobbing through the walls. It pissed me off, 'cause I knew that it was because she missed him. He didn't deserve her, not when he hurt her so bad. I told myself after that that I'd make something of myself, just so she'd be proud."

"Then a few years ago around the time I got my badge, he showed up again. I heard he married a couple of chicks after the blonde, but when he came looking for my mum he was in the middle of a divorce." His eyes suddenly lit up with glee and he leaned forward almost conspirationally. "You should've seen the bashing gramps gave him. Never piss off any man with a walking stick, I tell ya'. By the time the neighbours dragged him away the thing was in splinters all over the street. Mum cried, but no one else did. I kinda wished I had a walking stick, too. Anyway, he spewed some crap about repenting and coming to his senses, that after all his marriages, none of them ever measured up to her and mum being the bleeding heart that she is, took him back."

Kuroko could feel the loathing radiating off the taller man. "They remarried?"

"Hell no," Aomine growled. "Gramps and I made her swear she wouldn't marry him."

"Why?" He queried. The taller of the two gave him a strange look.

"He was obviously only trying to get back in her good grace because I'm the only kid he has." Aomine sighed heavily. "The yakuza are really big on lineage and tradition and all that."

"I know," Kuroko said with a wry smile. "But maybe he really meant what he said."

"Tetsu," Aomine began with a long-suffering huff. "He tossed us out without a thought. You don't do that to someone you love."

"Even so, perhaps he really is sorry."

"I don't care if he is," he said, untangling their fingers and leaning back in his seat. "He doesn't deserve to be forgiven. 'sides, he hasn't done anything to prove it besides showing up every now and then to stick his nose into my business."

Kuroko was the one to shake his head this time, standing and walking to the sink bearing his empty mug. Aomine watched his back as he rinsed out the mug and placed it on a stand to dry.

"So," he started casually, eyes keen on the narrow back. "Do I get pity sex now?"

The slim body stilled and bright blue eyes turned to him in confusion. "What?"

"Isn't that what usually follows huge revelations of a troubled past?" He asked, earning himself a snort.

"Is that how you scored women?" Kuroko asked sarcastically.

Aomine shrugged nonchalantly, not looking the least bit embarrassed. "Maybe."

Kuroko clicked his tongue, looking disappointed. "And here I was starting to rework my opinion of you."

"Opinion?" The tan man perked up at his words. "What do you mean by opinion?"

"I was beginning to believe that the promiscuous cop with an absurdly gorgeous smile was really just a misunderstood sweetheart who had trouble expressing himself properly," Kuroko said, hanging his head forlornly. "Alas, it seems my first impression of you was accurate."

"Oi, oi," Aomine muttered, hand held up to stop Kuroko who was struggling against the urge to smile. The crease of a frown between the taller man's eyebrows made him want to kiss him. That was, until he heard the next words. "Why is my smile absurd?"

Kuroko stared at him for a while before rolling his eyes and pushing away from the counter he had been leaning against, intending to leave the kitchen. "That's not the part you should be concerned with, Ahomine."

There was the scrape of the chair and the next second he was being tugged back and spun around into a nicely muscled chest with strong arms wrapped firmly around him. He gave the detective a deadpan look, making it clear that he was unimpressed. Aomine bumped their noses together.

"I was just kidding," he murmured with a teasing tilt to his lips. "I admit that my smile tends to dazzle people."

"Blowing your own trumpet is not attractive," Kuroko said, pushing the detective's face away.

Aomine hummed, undeterred by the hand against his cheek. "Then what if I blow you?"

The hand shoving at the side of his face froze. Seconds of complete silence passed before Kuroko burst out into uncontrollable laughter, retracting his hand and pressing it against his mouth in an effort to muffle the sounds. Aomine just watched the smaller man, enraptured by the tears that pooled in aquamarine eyes as Kuroko still failed to control his laughs. He reached up and pressed Kuroko's face into his chest, savouring the rumbling he felt as Kuroko continued giggling, unintentionally nuzzling into him when he shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't decide if that was suave or just really lame," Kuroko finally managed, the laughter giving way to a sigh.

"Probably the latter," Aomine grinned down at him. "But it did the job."

"Did wh—" Kuroko's words were cut off as the taller of the two leaned down and locked their lips in a slow, searing kiss that seemed to go on forever. When they finally pulled apart, both were breathing heavily, the earlier playfulness completely forgotten. Kuroko wrapped his arms around the tan neck, tugging him closer and resumed the kiss. Aomine's hands explored the contours of the petite frame, enjoying the delicate firmness that he had committed to memory. He could barely recall a time when his body recognized another that wasn't Kuroko's. It had only been months since they began their relationship, but he felt like a lifetime had passed and his memory knew of no other besides the figure in his arms. And he found that he didn't mind that in the least.

Kuroko moaned when his fingers ran a trail up the side of his body and he rotated his thumb over a perked nipple, sending a jolt through Aomine when he pressed closer. He did the same on the other side of Kuroko's body, making him squirm. Moving suddenly, he wrapped his hands around slim thighs and hoisted the blue-haired man up, garnering a surprised squeak as he made his way down the hallway and into the bedroom, where he unceremoniously dropped Kuroko onto the bed and tugged his own shirt off before joining him.

Slipping a thigh between Kuroko's legs, he ground it against him, drinking in the soft mewling sounds the pale man made. With a combination of tugging and pushing, they managed to get rid of the rest of their clothes with their lips connected for the most part of it. Aomine leaned over the side of the bed, fumbling through the drawer of the bedside table he knew Kuroko kept the lube in. Tossing the bottle to the side to be used later, he returned his attention to the smaller body below him. Running a wet trail down the column of Kuroko's neck to his chest, Aomine slid his teeth over the nub of one nipple and bit lightly as he circled the tip with his tongue. Kuroko squirmed under him with a small cry, fingers tangling in the short navy blue strands.

Aomine turned his attention to the other nipple, repeating the action until Kuroko was writhing, begging him to stop. Slipping a hand between their bodies, Aomine wrapped long fingers around Kuroko's length, copying the motion his tongue had been following with his thumb. The other hand reached for the discarded bottle of lube and he rocked back on his heels, pouring out a generous amount. He took the time to memorize how Kuroko looked right then, face and neck flushed, reddened and well-kissed lips parted slightly as he fought to catch his breath, and eyes hooded with lust as he returned the stare. Capturing Kuroko's lips in another kiss, he hooked one of the smaller man's legs over his shoulder and nudged a slicked finger in.

There was a sharp intake of breath and Kuroko clenched his eyes shut, breathing hard. Aomine moved slowly, mindful of the fact that it had been a few days since they'd last had sex. To distract the pale-skinned man, he deepened the kiss, tangling their tongues in a heated dance while he ran his free hand tantalizingly over Kuroko's length. His goal was accomplished when Kuroko inhaled again, this time from the pleasure and frustration as Aomine continued to tease him with fluttering touches that did nothing to sedate the heat.

"Aomine-kun." He said, a whine colouring the plea.

The said man hummed, nibbling along the shell of Kuroko's ear. "What?"

"Enough with that," he huffed, almost not noticing the second finger Aomine added. He moaned, body arching upwards as the mix of pain and pleasure rocketed through him when Aomine crooked his fingers slightly.

"Enough with what?" Aomine asked, enjoying the irritated look he received for his feigned ignorance.

"_Teasing_," Kuroko snapped, pulling at a bunch of dark blue hair for good measure.

"But you're enjoying it," he murmured huskily, lips fractions of an inch away from light blue locks.

Kuroko trembled at the puff of hot air against sensitized skin. "Not… enough…."

Humming again in response, Aomine quickened his pace, scissoring his fingers to stretch Kuroko more before adding a third finger. He was fast reaching his own limit.

"Lift up your hips," he said, hooking the other leg over his shoulder while he aligned their bodies. He leaned forward until the tip of his cock pressed into Kuroko who curled his fingers into the bed sheet as he did what he was told. Knees digging into the mattress, Aomine thrust into the smaller body completely, making Kuroko tighten around him as his body arched with a strangled cry. Aomine didn't stop to let Kuroko adjust to his size, giving him no chance to reproach him for the sudden movement. He thrust hard and fast, rotating his hips until he found Kuroko's sensitive spot and then abused that discovery, savouring the way the petite man clenched around him and the cries he tried to hold back to no avail.

Kuroko could feel the coil of heat inside of him tighten with each thrust that hit his sweet spot. Aomine sank his teeth into the exposed column of his neck, the pain intensifying the pleasure and addling his mind. His entire being felt tightly wound up, and he barely registered raking his fingernails across the tan man's back as he chanted his name repeatedly like a beg. Aomine's breath was hot against his jaw, and he could feel the other's heart beating against his stomach, just as wild as his own.

The smaller man's body seizing and convulsing around him led him over the edge as well, and it took him several seconds to blink the blinding white out of his vision. Kuroko was limp below him, pale chest heaving as he came back down to earth. It was when Kuroko moved to slide his legs off Aomine's shoulders that he realized the taller man was still hard and deep inside him. He shot Aomine a cautious glance, feeling dread rise at the devilish smirk he received. Aomine was far from satisfied. By his standards, it had been too long since they'd last done it. He may have gone some months without sex before due to a particularly busy work schedule, but on the other hand, he hadn't had the kind of mind-numbingly addictive sex that he had with Kuroko.

"Not just yet," he said in reply to the unvoiced question with a peck on Kuroko's lips. He slipped his hands under Kuroko and pulled him flush against his body. "'Night's still young."

**xx**

Aomine had nearly forgotten the happenings of the day before until he was kicked out of bed by a very sore, somewhat irked Kuroko who told him that Midorima was on his way to pick him up.

"How do you even know that?" He demanded, becoming alert when the thought occurred to him. Kuroko rolled his eyes at the groggy-eyed man, testing to see if his legs could support his weight.

"Midorima-san tried calling you three times. I nearly didn't hear it over your snoring."

"I don't snore," he retorted immediately. Sheets pooled around his waist, he watched with some amusement and no little amount of satisfaction as Kuroko began to painstakingly pull himself to his feet. He didn't realize that he'd let out a chuckle until he was shot a poisonous glare.

"I told you I have work today!" Kuroko shot accusingly at him. "You didn't need to be so rough!"

"Sorry," he piped up promptly, sounding much too cheerful for it to be sincere. "I'll go slower next time."

"You'll be lucky if there's a next time," Kuroko muttered darkly, tugging a sheet viciously off the bed and knotting it around his waist.

Aomine stared at him, horror etched into his features. "You mean no more sex?"

Kuroko's glare was yakuza worthy. "Not for a _very _long time."

**xx**

"Well, don't you look bright and cheerful today."

"Fuck off, frog," Aomine growled, slamming the car door with more force than necessary, looking like he wanted to punch someone. Midorima leaned as far away as the enclosed space would allow him to.

"What happened?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what happened!" dark eyes turned to his partner who looked back calmly. "Why the hell did you send him to me? Now he knows about Tetsu."

Midorima's eyes widened behind his glasses. "He knows you're gay now?"

Aomine opened his mouth to retort but shut it again at the other man's words. He fidgeted uncomfortably. "No, but he met Tetsu. I don't need him making this any more complicated."

"Yeah, since you're doing such a good job at it yourself," Midorima said wryly, receiving a derisive snort from the petulant detective. He sighed tiredly. "You know I can't refuse what he asks."

The dark-skinned man remained silent, eyes stubbornly directed out the passenger window. They kept on driving like that for a few minutes before something dawned on Aomine.

"Hey, what happened to my car?" He asked, head whipping around.

Midorima shot him a strange look. "Nothing."

Aomine frowned. "Then why are you driving me around?"

"You truly are an idiot," Midorima muttered under his breath. "You were in no condition to drive the other night. You could barely stay awake."

"So where is it?"

"I would assume that it is parked at your apartment."

"Then drop me back at my place, I'll go get my car."

The green-eyed detective gave him an annoyed look. "We've already passed by your apartment."

"Then turn back," he replied with a careless wave of his hand. "What's the word on Kou?"

"He hasn't been seen at home or at work for the past week apparently," Midorima answered, used to his partner's wilful demands. He didn't like putting up with him, but it would be a good opportunity to check if the perpetrator had gone back there. "Besides destroying your apartment, he's been keeping a low profile."

"Just my luck," Aomine muttered.

Ignoring his words, Midorima continued talking. "It seems that he's gone into hiding. The models have reported that there haven't been any anonymous mail recently."

"Something's not right," The dark-haired man said, voicing what they both suspected. "He's planning something."

**xx**

His car, as it turned out, was still intact. The two detectives stood in front of it, staring wordlessly at the brown envelope wedged between the windscreen and a wiper that was bare except for the words 'Read Me' scrawled messily across it.

"It's not a bomb, is it?" Aomine broke the silence, making no move to reach for it.

"I don't know. It seems unlikely that it is."

"What if it is?"

"Then we blow up," Midorima said flatly. Aomine remained still. "We don't have all day."

Taking a deep breath, the navy-haired detective slowly released the envelope from its spot and shook it gently to get an idea of what its content was. He was surprised when there was the sound of something hitting the side of the paper, something extremely small in relativity to the envelope. Cautiously, he tore it open and tipped the contents into his hand. The pair glanced down, expressions confused. It was seconds later when it finally clicked and Aomine realized that what he held was a thumb drive, one that looked suspiciously like the one he had been given by Murasakibara on Akashi's behalf. He remembered tossing it into a bedside drawer.

"What is it?" Midorima spoke first this time.

"A thumb drive."

"I can see that," he responded, nudging up his spectacles. "Do you know what it's for?"

"Yes and no."

Midorima sighed in exasperation, something he did a lot around his partner. "I do not have the time to play along. I will be taking my leave. Make sure you head straight to the station."

"Yes, yes," Aomine answered vaguely.

Left alone, he continued to stand there, trying to piece the puzzle pieces together in his head. His eyes travelled between the envelope and the thumb drive. Was there something on the device that he was meant to read?

**xx**

"I don't get this shit," Aomine leaned back in his seat with a frustrated groan. "There's nothing to read on this thing!"

His partner was unperturbed, scrolling through something on his own computer. "Are you talking about the thumb drive you were left earlier?"

The former grunted in answer. "It's all application files to install useless programs on my computer."

"Try the read me file."

"The what?"

Midorima raised an eyebrow at his ignorance. "Installation files usually come with a read me file with instructions or credits or such."

Aomine muttered something under his breath that Midorima didn't bother to catch. Hunching over his keyboard again, he scrolled through the folder until he came to the mentioned file. Clicking on it, he was relieved and appalled at the same time by the wall of text that popped up on his screen. He had only begun to scan through it when he heard his name from across the room. Looking up, he caught his Chief beckoning for him to join him in his office.

Reverting his eyes back to his screen, he was about to shut the window when something caught his eye. In the midst of all the words there were random numbers scattered about. He squinted at them, counting. His eyes widened when he realized what they were and he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled them in the sequence in which they appeared. He held the finished decryption in front of him, looking like he'd just found buried treasure.

"Aomine!" the sound of his Chief roaring over the din in the room turned several heads and snapped him out of his stupor. Hastily, he pocketed the piece of paper before weaving his way through the desks and people to the other side.

**xx**

Aomine stared at his chief's blank expression, half expecting him to burst out in laughter and tell him that the news he'd just received was just some sort of a sick joke.

"Sorry, I think I hea—" he began, only to be cut off with a hand held up to stop him. The Chief's expression was grim.

"What about Midorima?" he tried again.

"This investigation is of national level security. He has half of the country's law enforcement to back him up."

"But none of them know this case as well as the two of us!"

"Your target has been identified," his chief replied. "All that's left is to catch him. We don't need your knowledge of the case to do that."

"Bu—"

"It's been decided, Aomine," Chief interrupted him wearily. "This goes beyond me."

Eyes flashing, he slammed a fist onto the desk angrily as he shot to his feet. "It's his damn work isn't it?"

"If this 'he' you're referring to is me, then yes, it is." Aomine spun around at the sound of a newcomer, ready to strangle the man who stood just inside the office's door, dressed as impeccably as always.

"I told you to stop fucking with my business." He ground out, nails digging into his palm as he struggled against the urge to punch him.

His father returned his look coolly. "And I would usually listen, but your stubbornness this time has forced my hand."

"What the hell?"

"This man is dangerous, Daiki," he said. "He is cornered and he knows it, and a cornered animal will strike out in order to escape."

"Even if you put me on suspension he's still going to come after me." Aomine scoffed. The older of the two turned to the Chief with a mildly surprised look.

"Did you not tell him that he had a new job?"

His chief shook his head. "No Sir, I was about to before you showed up."

"Job?" Aomine's eyes darted between the two, see-sawing between feeling betrayed and confused. "What job?"

"You're being assigned a protection detail."

Aomine snorted. "How is that any better than staying on this case?"

His chief went on, "You will be in charge of Mari-san, who will be returning to her parents' home until we find Kou Shougo."

The dark-eyed man let out an incredulous laugh, whipping around to give his father a look. "You're shipping me off to the countryside?"

He received a shrug. "It is for your own good. Your mother is also –"

"Don't you fucking bring my mother into this," he snarled. His father fell silent. Abruptly, Aomine turned to his Chief, not bothering to mask the betrayal on his face. "When do I leave?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Fine," Aomine snapped. Without another word, he turned on his heels and stormed out, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rattle the blinds.

Silence filled the void that the angry man left behind. Sighing, his father fell into one of the two chairs placed in front of the chief's desk, body slumped slightly, all signs of the imposing persona gone. Running a hand through dark hair streaked with grey, he accepted the steaming cup of instant tea held out to him by the chief.

He sipped it in quiet contemplation before he spoke. "Was I wrong to do this?"

The chief leaned back in his chair, expression impassive as he considered his answer. "With all due respect, sir, it probably wasn't the best course of action to take."

"So it would seem," he mumbled. He stared into the murky depths of his drink, wistfully recalling a time when his son didn't radiate animosity whenever he was near.

"Despite that," the chief added on, brown eyes soft and understanding when they met his. "It's what I would have done for my girl, too."

Chuckling wryly, he leaned forward to place the cup on the desk. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

"Probably," the chief said thoughtfully. "He took the news much better than I thought he would."

"Indeed," he observed with a slight nod. Standing, he reached over the desk to shake hands with the chief. "Thank you for taking care of my son."

"I did nothing outstanding," the chief dismissed his words with a shake of his head. "You should thank his partner."


End file.
